Drop
by aqueenofokay
Summary: (Apocalypse AU) After nuclear bombs are used on a day known as Drop Day, the world is plunged into a freezing winter and now survival has become the only priority.
1. Chapter 1

It didn't matter what side you had been on or what you fought for. It didn't matter where you were from or what you did.

Everyone remembered Drop Day. Remembered every little detail of that day, that hour, that minute, that second. Remembered how the world stopped moving, holding its breath and could only watch the sky darken and the ash fall from the sky.

Wrapped in warm layers, the cold still found it's way to Evan. With the Drop, the temperature plummeted, snow falling with the ash. There were days where it was impossible to tell which was snow and which was ash. Evan pulled his coat closer, his head down as he forced himself to keep walking. The trees arched above him, weighed down with snow. The sky was dark grey, smoke heavy in the air.

Evan's dark eyes moved up from the ground to the woods around him. With his scarf tied tightly around his face, he could barely see above it, but he would rather that then the cold biting at his cheeks. With every move, his right arm stung with pain, the black scarf stolen from his friend's body tied tight around it in hopes the bleeding would stop.

The world had gone silent and he didn't expect to see anyone or anything yet he was still on guard, rifle hanging on his back. His red and white stripes on his sleeves stood out from the black of his uniform, the gold feathers of the owl patch sewn with care hidden under his lapel and warm scarf.

He told himself that the stripes on his sleeves that identified him would save him if he encountered anyone yet what he had seen, what he had done, blood that wasn't his staining his uniform, the deep wound on his right arm oozing blood, told him that it wouldn't.

Evan had joined the Peacekeepers, a regiment whose only purpose was to help civilians, and when there was a ceasefire, keep the peace. To some, it was considered a crime to harm or kill a Peacekeeper. Evan had joined to help people. Though he carried a gun, he never wanted to have to use it. His closest friends had chosen to take up arms. Every time wounded soldiers were brought to their camp, he prayed that they wouldn't be among them, that they were okay. He hadn't seen them in over three years.

It had been the middle of September, barely five in the morning when Evan was woken up by a low rumble that set every nerve on end. He had scrambled to get dressed in his uniform, running out of his tent to see the sky darken, a cold strong wind blowing through the camp. The camp was silent except for the sounds of the campfires blowing out and the tents billowing in the wind. Everyone had stopped and stared at the sky, trying to understand what had happened. The morning birds no longer sang and the sun did not shine through the clouds and smoke that day or any day after that.

The ninety Peacekeepers at the camp tried to dismiss it, not hearing any new orders, their radios had gone silent. Planes would fly overhead and sometimes there would be a distant boom that followed it's smoking path. Evan tried to pretend nothing was wrong, tending to wounded soldiers in their care or bringing supplies to refugees in their camp. With every passing day, the cold and falling ash and snow became harder to ignore.

By the end of September, food and water was becoming scarce. They kept expecting a supply plane, firing flares into the sky with hopes they'd be seen but the plane never came. Many of the wounded soldiers had died, the lack of warmth and medicine taking its toll. Evan had sat by their radio for hours, scanning the different frequencies for anything. Even an enemy transmission to tell them they weren't alone in this freezing hell.

"This is PeaceKeepers Regiment Number Three stationed in North Washington. This is a distress signal requesting assistance immediately. Please come in. Over." Yet as this went on, his proper request turned to begging. "Someone please come in. This is a distress signal from a PeaceKeepers camp...We have people dying here. Please...Please come in." Yet only static answered him and every other PeaceKeeper that tried.

When October arrived, the cold getting worse with every passing day, the camp was attacked. By who, Evan didn't know. They had attacked when it got dark, catching the Peacekeepers off guard. Evan hid in the radio tent, hugging his rifle to his chest tightly as he tried to block out the sounds of the screams, gunshots and the splattering of blood on the tents. Tears of anger streamed down Evan's face, his breathing heavy. He couldn't bring himself to get up and fight, protect his fellow Peacekeepers. All he could do was sit in the corner of the tent and pray that no one found him.

His eyes wandered up to the radio, thinking that maybe he could try one last time to send a message. Glancing back at the tent entrance, he scrambled towards the radio, gripping the cold metal of the mic in his thin gloved hands.

"This is Peacekeepers Regiment Number Three! We are under attack! Please anyone who is listening please send help! Please!" Evan cried, rubbing his tears away with the palm of his hands. He wasn't ready to die yet. Barely twenty three, he wasn't ready to say goodbye to his friends when the war started, and he wasn't ready to let go of all the goals and dreams he had. He wasn't ready now. He didn't want to be. "Please help!" The sound of the tent flap opening made Evan jump, falling back onto the tent floor. He stared up at the soldier dressed in black, blood staining their uniform. The soldier raised his gun at Evan, eyes narrowing to look at him.

Before Evan could even hesitate, his hands were on his gun, aiming right back at the soldier. The gunshots that followed echoed louder than anything Evan had ever heard. A loud scream followed it that he recognised as his own, and sparks flew through the air as Evan fell back against the radio table both from the force of his own gun and the bullet that had deeply grazed his right arm and hit the radio behind him.

Evan's eyes went back to the soldier, a loud gasp ripping its way out of his throat as he stared at the bloody mess in front of him. He sank to his knees, his breath ragged with sobs. He held his left hand to his bleeding arm, the pain numbing his whole arm, not letting him thing. He leaned his head against the end of the table, his rifle on the floor beside him having fallen from his hands. He struggled to breathe, anxiety and fear crashing over him. He could feel his warm blood seep through his glove, oozing down his arm.

As much as he wanted to lie down, he couldn't stay here. He would die if he did, either from the cold and blood loss or someone finding him. He couldn't decided which would be the worse.

Pushing himself to his feet, wincing from the pain shooting through his arm, he picked up his gun, moving slowly towards the entrance to the tent. Outside was chaos. Most of the tents burned, the hot flames melting the snow. Running frantically, Peacekeepers tried to escape the gunfire that echoed like fireworks, sparks, bullet shells and blood falling on the snow. A bullet flew past Evan's head, ripping through the tent fabric as he ducked out of the way. He lost his balance, falling onto the tent floor soaked in blood, bits of bone and flesh from the soldier that Evan had shot. He stared at his hands that had landed in a puddle of blood with wide eyes, feeling sick to his stomach. He had seen wounds and sickness, but never seen death this close before. He felt sick to his stomach, having to turn away from the gore, clasping his hand over his mouth.

Evan managed to get back to his feet again, feeling unsteady as he stumbled to grab his gun. Taking a deep breath, he sprinted out of the tent towards the one where his pack would be.

"Evan! Evan run!" He turned at the sound, one of the attacking soldiers tackling Evan to the muddy snow. He cried out in pain at the impact and the pain on his arm. The Peacekeeper that had yelled at Evan, Luke, ran to where the two struggled. He pulled the soldier off Evan, hitting the soldier hard with his gun, enough to knock him out. Luke took Evan's hand, his eyes widening at the sight of his gloves soaked in blood and the growing stain of blood on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" Evan shook his head, tears falling from his eyes."Come on! We have to go!" Another gunshot crackled through the air and Luke went down, his hand slipping from Evan's.

"L-Luke!" Evan stammered, falling to his knees beside his fallen friend. "Luke!" Once more, his gun was in his hands, aiming at the soldier that had shot Luke. Pulling the trigger, Evan watched the soldier fall. He lowered his gun, using the strap to hang it off his back. He looked down at Luke, tears falling from his dark eyes as he took Luke's scarf, jacket and weapons. Luke wouldn't need them now. He wrapped the extra scarf around his right arm in hope of stopping the bleeding, taking off his bloodied gloves and taking Luke's. Carrying what he could, he sprinted to the tent, stuffing what he could find into his pack. In a box near the wall of the tent, Evan found flares, the thought crossing his mind that maybe he could find someone that would help.

The edge of the woods wasn't far away, the darkness bringing safety. Yet Evan was terrified to go alone, remembering the planes overhead and hearing the crashes. If some of those pilots survived, if one of them found Evan, he was scared to think that they might turn on allies too just like these soldiers had; slaughtering the peacekeepers.

Taking a deep breath, Evan ran from the tent towards the woods, looking over his shoulder to make sure that no one was chasing after him.

"Hey!" Evan was grabbed suddenly, a strong arm dragging him backwards. He felt the cold metal of a knife pressed against his throat, his eyes landing on the red and white on the jacket sleeve of the arm holding him back. "Abandoning us? Are you fucking abandoning us?" The peacekeeper yelled.

"W-We're all going to die! Let me go!" Evan struggled, pushing the Peacekeeper off. "Y-You have to go too! You'll die!" Evan cried. The peacekeeper sneered, his knife flashing through the air as he lunged at Evan.

"You're pathetic! Coward!" Evan stumbled backwards, the tip of the knife cutting his cheek. Evan swung his gun around, using the end of it to hit the Peacekeeper hard in the face. The sound of bones breaking made him cringe, the peacekeeper falling to the snow. A strangled sob racked his body as he turned and kept running into the woods.

Now, the snow fell gently and the world had gone silent once more. Every step took more energy than it should, Evan's breathing ragged through the scarf tied around his face to keep the cold out. His pack weighed him down, as heavy as the regret of leaving his friend and the other peacekeepers behind. There was nothing he could have done to save Luke, only hope that his death was painless. The only thing that kept him going the possibility of getting help, of finding someone who wouldn't turn on him. He repeated it over and over to himself with every step, his eyes scanning the frozen woods around him.

Yet as the day turned into night and it became colder, Evan found that he couldn't keep walking. He nestled himself into the base of a tree, peeling the bloody scarf off his arm to look at the angry wound on his arm. He winced, pulling the scarf tight around the wound. The memories that he had tried so hard to block out came rushing back. He thought about Luke and the other peacekeepers, wondering if the soldiers that had attacked them would bury the bodies or leave them there to rot in the snow.

Evan's eyes started to close, taking all of his energy to jolt himself awake. His eyes drifted his pack laying beside him on the snow, remembering the flares inside. The sky was dark enough that it would be seen from far away. Maybe someone would find him, and if he didn't wake up; his pack and weapons could save someone else.

Reaching into his bag, his left hand curled around the flare gun. He pulled it out, loading the flare into it. He looked up at the night sky, the stars now visible now that the city lights were gone.

"Please." Evan pulled the trigger, watching the flare fly into the sky and explode in a bright flash of red light and smoke. Loading another flare, Evan shot it again into the sky, the bang echoing among the trees and the red smoke hovered in the air. Evan dropped the gun, leaning back against the tree as he let out a sigh. Someone had seen it; he kept telling himself as unconsciousness swept him under.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh come on. You aren't scared to fly that fucking beast are you?" Jonathan had laughed, looking at the new plane in front of him..

Tyler crossed his arms, biting the inside of his lip. He was an experienced pilot, flying feeling natural to him yet the idea of getting in this plane, the snarling white tiger painted on the door, made him nervous. He shivered at the cold breeze, looking the plane over.

"No I'm not." Tyler snapped, placing his hand on the wing. He glanced back at Jonathan, the gold buttons on his uniform reflecting the early morning sunlight. On Jonathan's lapel, usually kept hidden, the golden owl patch with bright yellow eyes caught Tyler's attention. He had heard a little bit from Jonathan about where it came from, and he always wondered. "I'm not going to crash it like you probably would." Tyler laughed.

"I wouldn't." Jonathan shot back as Tyler turned away from him to look at the plane. A strong cold gust of wind sent chills through both of them, a low rumble following it. They looked up at the sky, ash falling like snow around them. Jonathan held his hand out, catching one of the flakes of ash in his hand. Another strong gust of wind sent the ash swirling around the airfield, starting to cover the ground in a thin white layer. "What the hell?" Jonathan breathed, looking up at Tyler with wide blue eyes.

"We should get inside." A sense of dread filled Tyler as he walked back to Jonathan, hurrying away from the plane and the falling ash.

The bang woke Tyler, startling him from his sleep. He sat up, his head hitting the top of the crashed plane he slept in. He pushed the door open, looking around the woods with wide eyes. He feared someone had found him, found the plane and was shooting at it. Another bang made him jump, his eyes going up to the dark night sky. A flare burst in a flash of red light and smoke, the sparks raining down.

A part of him told him to go back to sleep, ignore the cry for help. Another part of him told him to go find where it came from before someone not so nice found them first. With a sigh, Tyler pulled his warm coat on over his uniform, wrapping his scarf around his face. He pulled his pack on, double checking his first aid kit was in there before grabbing his gun. He jumped off the wing to the snow that was littered with parts of his plane. Keeping his guard up, he walked through the woods, glancing up at the lingering trail of red smoke left behind by the flares to make sure he was going in the right direction.

Snow fell gently around him, landing on his blonde hair and his dark uniform. The smell of fire and smoke was still heavy in the air, a haze lingering. He could see the flare trail was closer, the red smoke starting to fade. Scanning around the woods, his eyes landed on a huddle at the base of a tree, a haze of red smoke lingering around it.

As he got closer, he saw that it was a person, nestled limply at the base of a large tree. Snow had covered them in a thin blanket, the flare gun at their side. Tyler knelt down in front of them, tempted to take their supplies and run back to the plane. A flash of bright gold caught Tyler's attention, his eyes moving to the patch on their jacket. The owl patch stared back at him with yellow eyes. It was the exact same from his memory, the only thing that was different was the splattered blood on its golden feathers.

"Oh god…" He reached forward, his hand grazing the bloody scarf wrapped around their arm. His eyes went farther down to the red and white stripes on the sleeves of his jacket. The peacekeeper didn't look alive, the colour gone from his skin. "Come on...Wake up." He pulled the scarf from the peacekeeper's face, trying to use his own body heat to warm him, cupping his face in his hands. "Come on! Wake up."

Evan's eyes shot open, a ragged gasp escaping his throat. He couldn't focus, the world around him looking dark. A warm hand was suddenly on his cheek, the comforting touch startling him.

"Hey. Hey calm down. It's okay. You're okay." Slowly the world came into focus, his eyes looking up at the man leaning over him. "Here have some water." He held the bottle to Evan's lips, holding his head up to let him drink. When he had had enough, he lay back, taking in his surroundings. He was inside a small plane, filled with holes and dangling wires. Evan struggled to sit up, his arm seizing up from the pain. The memories came flooding back to him, another wave of shock running through him. "Hey! Hey it's okay! You're okay." The blonde gave him a reassuring look, tucking the sleeping bag closer to Evan. "My name is Tyler. I won't hurt you." Evan looked up at him, slowly understanding what he said. "Your name is Evan, right?" Evan nodded, slowly sitting up. He winced a little bit, leaning against the cold metal wall of the plane.

"Y-Yeah…" Evan's voice sound raw, his voice stuttering from the shock.

"Your patch. One of my friends who had been in my regiment has the same one. He told me about his best friend and I saw your patch so I just guessed that is who you are." Tyler explained.

"I-Is his name Jonathan?"

"Yeah." Evan smiled, his left hand reaching for the wound on his right arm. He was surprised to see it bandaged though still bleeding, a spot of red seeping through the bandages.

"T-Thank you." Evan looked back up at Tyler, dropping his hand from the wound "T-Thank you for saving my life."

"Anyone would have done it." Tyler shrugged it off. Evan shook his head, his cold hands fidgeting with the sleeping bag.

"No. N-No one would have done it. P-People are killing each other, Tyler. Doesn't matter what side they are on. A-After those bombs dropped...It didn't end the war. It ended the world."

The snow continued to fall, getting deeper and deeper with every passing day. As the days went on, Evan didn't leave the plane, huddled in the sleeping bag as he tried to block out the memories that screamed for attention. Tyler would collect firewood and guard the plane, changing the bloody bandages on Evan's arm and cooking what was left of his food for the both of them. The Peacekeeper didn't tell him what happened to him, though the stutter and the nervous look in his eyes told Tyler enough. What Evan had seen, Tyler wished he would never have to.

Pilots never saw what soldiers did. All they saw was the fire and smoke, metal flying off the planes and the screaming of the engine. They never saw the gore, the effects of what pulling a trigger could do. Maybe that was why Jonathan thought Evan was so brave.

"He's a Peacekeeper. He's a medic. He sees the worst of it. All that pain. That would be enough to make anyone give up. He can't. He has to believe that there is hope in the worst of times. I wish I was as brave as Evan." Jonathan had said, looking down at the owl patch on his jacket.

Now, looking up at Evan from where he sat in the entrance to the plane, the sleeping bag wrapped around him, eyes staring ahead at something that Tyler could not see, he wasn't so sure if Jonathan really wanted to be like Evan.

At night when the temperature plummeted, the two were forced to huddle close together, using their body heat to stay warm. They would keep their gloves and scarves on, the cold stinging at their skin.

"J-Jonathan is one of my closest friends. H-Him and Brock. B-Brock is in the navy. I-I try not to think of them as just that...I-I think of them as these wonderful people. I-If summer could be people, it'd be them. Always laughing and smiling. Y-You can't be sad around them. I-It hurts to think about where they might be now and what has happened to that happiness." Evan had said one night. Tyler listened, thinking about the last time he had seen Jonathan. Evan sobbed, a strangled pained noise.

"Evan it's okay. They are still the people you love. Nothing could change that." Tyler said, pulling him into a hug. Evan continued to sob and soon it wasn't just about how much he missed his friends but about everything. He was grateful for Tyler, someone so kind in what had become a cruel world.

Though it seemed to be okay, both of them knew they couldn't stay at the crashed plane. Their food would run out or worse, someone would find them. Yet they ignored the nagging voice in their heads, the days slowly passing.

It was early in the morning, the world looking blue as the sun rose, when Tyler was woken up from his sleep. Beside him, Evan was still asleep, his scarf covering most of his face but the tops of his cheeks were bright red from the cold. Tyler waited, listening again for the sound that had woken him. He kept low, moving towards one of the holes in the plane wall. Figures moved through the trees, no colour on their clothes and guns on their backs.

"Evan. Wake up." Tyler whispered.

"Mmm..." Evan stirred from his sleep, pulling the sleeping bag closer.

"Wake the _fuck_ up." Tyler punched his leg hard, stuffing his things into his pack. Evan sat up, giving him an offended glare. The sound of a branch cracking outside startled the both of them. Tyler explained with motions that there were people out there and they had to leave or fight.

"W-What do we do?" Evan whispered, pushing the sleeping bag into his pack. Tyler didn't answer, gripping his gun tightly. Evan didn't want to take another life, didn't want what happened to Luke happen to Tyler. "Tyler?"

"Get down!" Bullets ricocheted off the plane, some piercing through the weaker metal. Tyler pushed Evan to the ground, pinning him down to the floor as bullets and metal flew over them. When it seemed to stop, they moved to either side of the entrance, guns ready. "Run and gun. We'll stay together." Tyler whispered, his hand on the lever to open the door. Evan nodded, taking a deep breath as the door opened, bright morning light filling the plane.

The clearing exploded with bullets, some hitting trees, bark shattered like glass. Others hit the plane, bouncing off or burying themselves deep in the metal. Evan aimed and fired when he could, following close behind Tyler as they sprinted through the woods. The force didn't knock him back this time, his gloved hands holding it tight.

Tyler glanced back over his shoulder at Evan, watching him take aim at one of the attackers, the gunshot crackling through the air. Evan looked to Tyler, his eyes going to something in front of him. He swung his gun around to his direction, Tyler's eyes going wide.

"Evan!"

"Get down!" Evan yelled. Tyler dropped face first to the snow, feeling the rush in the air as the bullet went over him and hit the attacker behind him. Evan pulled Tyler to his feet, the two of them keeping pace as they ran.

It was only when they could no longer hear the echo of gunshots that they stopped, heaving for air. Tyler sat down on the snow, wishing he had more water. Evan leaned against a tree, their breath coming out in white clouds.

"Fucking nice shooting." Tyler laughed. Evan shrugged, setting his pack down. "For a Peacekeeper."

"I-It's nothing." Evan stuttered now that the adrenaline was gone. He looked down at his arm, seeing the blood on his sleeve. The wound had reopened, blood flowing through the bandages. "D-Did you taunt Jonathan like that?"

"A few times." Tyler laughed, noticing the blood. "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." Evan kept his hand over the wound, his eyes scanning the woods around them. The trees looked black against the snow that weighed down on their dead branches. In the silence, it occurred to Evan how much he missed the sound of birds, their musical calls that would wake him in the morning back home, bringing in the new day as the sun rose. Now it was silence and grey. "W-We should keep walking. Get away from here." Evan glanced at Tyler who nodded slightly, wishing they hadn't left the plane and it's safety. "W-We're out in the open here."

"You're right. Just let me chill for a few moments." Tyler smiled, laying back on the snow.

"T-That was an awful joke." Evan laughed, walking over to him. He sat down beside Tyler, looking up at the snow as it fell. Evan held his hand out, watching the big snowflakes land in his hand.

"Come on, Owl Boy. Let's keep going." Tyler finally said, getting to his feet. He held his hand out to Evan, pulling him to his feet. "We'll find a safer place that isn't in the open so we can patch that wound up again." Tyler pulled his pack on, leading the way. Evan nodded, glancing behind him at the way they had come and could have sworn he saw something move in the shadows. "How did you get such a nasty wound anyways?" Tyler asked from up ahead. Evan turned back to him, remembering seeing the gun pointed at him and the blood. Evan shook his head, his eyes down on the snow when Tyler turned to look back at him.

"I-It was just a graze." Evan said quietly, following behind Tyler. Movement caught Tyler's eye, making him stop. Evan bumped into him, looking up at him confused. "W-What is it?" Footsteps in the snow behind them made them turn, aiming their guns. A young man held his hands up in surrender, falling to his knees in front of them, his black military clothing stained red, his gun held by a strap on his back.

"Please!" He squeaked. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"


	3. Chapter 3

When the war started, many had refused to join the of fighting the enemy army, they fought against the war itself, taking to the streets with molotovs, baseball bats, guns and cardboard signs, black bandanas and masks over their faces. They demanded a stop to the war, earning the name 'Revolters' from the soldiers.

Their demands were answered though not the way they wanted. They were answered with bombs, nuclear bombs that dropped the temperatures and people dropped dead just as quickly. As the days passed, the soldiers joined the Revolters, thinking they were the only way they could survive as the armies began to crumble.

Lui had been one of those soldiers, abandoning his fellow soldiers in the belief that he would survive, that he would never have to fire his gun again, never take another life. He had never been so wrong before.

The Revolters started claim that they now ruled the frozen world. They attacked the regiments of soldiers that still remained, taking their supplies and weapons. Some would join them, others they forced to join them, and some they just killed, liking the colour of red on the snow. It terrified Lui. He had never hated a colour so much before.

The worst night for Lui was the night they attacked the Peacekeeper's camp. The Peacekeepers didn't kill people. They helped them, kept them alive in the worst of times. Lui had kept to the shadows that night, avoiding everyone. He let the Peacekeepers he saw go, hoping that no one else would see them.

Turning a corner, he had seen a peacekeeper stumble out of one of the tents, his right arm covered in blood and his eyes wide with fear.

"What are you doing? He's got a pack! Shoot him!" A Revolter yelled at Lui as he ran up to him. When Lui turned back to the Peacekeeper, he had been joined by another. "Shoot em!"

"Why?! He's a Peacekeeper!" Lui cried, freezing up. Around him, tents burned and gunshots and screams echoed in the air with the falling snow. "They are all Peacekeepers! They haven't done anything!"

"Doesn't matter anymore! They've got stuff that we need! Shoot them or I will!" The Revolter yelled back. Lui hesitated, before raising his gun, taking a deep breath. The gunshot that followed was loud, shocking Lui because it hadn't come from his gun. He turned and looked at the Revolter beside him as he lowered his gun as another shot rang in Lui's ears and the Revolter went down in a spray of blood on the snow. The shot had come from the Peacekeeper. Lui looked back at the Peacekeepers, one of them down, the other running.

"Lui! Get that one!" A Revolter yelled, running up to him. Lui nodded, running after the Peacekeeper. He glanced at the one he had just watched die, having to look away quickly from the sight of the blood.

He found the other Peacekeeper in a fight with another, hearing the yelling from where he stood.

"You're pathetic! Coward!" One of them yelled. Lui watched, peering around the side of a tent. He watched the Peacekeeper he had followed hit the other with his gun hard enough to knock them out. Lui thought he would stay, help his other Peacekeepers but instead he turned and ran into the woods. Lui raised his gun, aiming at the running Peacekeeper. He should have pulled the trigger, fearing what the other Revolters would do if they found out but he couldn't. He could not bring himself to shoot the Peacekeeper, watching him till he had disappeared into the trees.

"Did you get that Peacekeeper?" A Revolter had asked as they burned the bodies, the ground too frozen to bury them.

"Yeah. Easy shot." Lui lied, eyes on the growing fire.

Later that night, they had seen the red flares explode in the night sky, telling them that someone was alive out there. So they had trekked through the woods, finding crashed planes and the occasional pilot that was still alive yet no sign of whoever fired the flares.

On the third day since the attack on the Peacekeepers camp, they found the crash site of a large plane, a white tiger painted on the side. Lui thought it was kinda silly. It seemed unlikely that there was anyone alive in the plane but the Revolters still opened fire on it anyways.

What they weren't expecting was the door of the plane to fly open and bullets to come shooting back at them. Lui ducked behind a tree, a bullet flying past his head and hitting the tree in front of him. Lui glanced around the tree, seeing the Peacekeeper and the pilot sprint away from the plane.

Lui hurried after them, though not to kill them. Instead, the same idea that he had when he first joined the Revolters was in his head now. The Peacekeeper and the pilot had survived this long, probably not having to fight with anyone till the Revolters showed up. That was what Lui wanted, to know he wouldn't have to use a gun every day, wouldn't have to see blood every day. He could leave the Revolters, get far away from them.

When Lui caught up with the two, they were sitting on the snow, trying to catch their breath. Lui hid behind a tree, scared to step into the open. He had gotten used to keeping his head down, not saying much, the idea of approaching the two and begging to let him join them made him nervous.

"Come on, Owl Boy." He heard the pilot say. "Let's keep going." He waited until they had gotten up and started walking, following closely. Every time footstep sounded loud in the crunching snow. The pilot suddenly stopped, the Peacekeeper bumping into him as he turned, gun aimed at Lui.

Lui's eyes went wide, freezing up. He held his hands up in surrender as the Peacekeeper turned. It was pointless to run now.

"Please! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Lui cried, dropping to his knees.

"Who are you?" The pilot demanded, taking a step towards him. The Peacekeeper stayed still, his eyes moving from Lui to the pilot. "I said who are you?" The pilot yelled, hitting Lui hard in the face with his gun. Lui fell to the snow, tasting blood in his mouth.

"T-Tyler." At the sound of the quieter voice, Lui's eyes went up to the Peacekeeper, seeing the bloody mess of a wound on his arm and the golden owl patch on his lapel, the thread glinting in the light. "H-He isn't a soldier." The pilot, Tyler, looked back at the Peacekeeper, confused. "I-I know that uniform." Lui stared at the Peacekeeper as he stepped towards him, completely caught off guard when the Peacekeeper kicked him hard in the gut. Lui gasped, the air knocked out of him as he rolled away from the Peacekeeper. "You killed Luke! You and whatever group you are a part of! You killed them all!" The Peacekeeper kicked him repeatedly, reaching down to grab his collar and choke him. "You shot them all! You fucking shot them all!"

"I didn't! I-I didn't! I-I let you live! P-Please!" Lui struggled to say. The Peacekeeper froze, staring down at him with tear filled dark eyes. "I want to join you. I don't want to be a part of the Revolters anymore."

"He doesn't owe you." Tyler spat. "Leave him here, Evan."

"Please! I don't want anything from you! Just let me go with you! I can't go back there! Please!" Lui cried as the Peacekeeper, Evan, stood up and started to walk away, the pilot following. "I don't want to die! Please!" The Peacekeeper stopped, his hands tightening on his gun.

"Evan don't. Leave him." Tyler said quietly as Evan turned and walked back to Lui, pulling him to his feet.

"C-come on. W-We need to get out of the open." Evan said quietly, his constant stutter

"He's only letting you come with us cause he's a Canadian Peacekeeper. Lucky you" Tyler spat.

"Thank you, Evan." Lui ignored Tyler, hurrying to catch up with the peacekeeper. "Thank you." Evan didn't answer, just continued to walk. He seemed pale, his breathing short. Tyler stayed close to Evan as they walked through the snowy woods. Lui's eyes kept going to the wound on Evan's arm, seeming to be bloodier every time he looked at it. He remembered the night that the peacekeeper's camp was attacked and seeing him run from the tent, his arm bloody and the fear on his face. He couldn't help but wonder if that was where his stutter came from, the shock of what he had seen and done hurting him more than physically.

"Evan are you okay?" Tyler asked when Evan started to stumble. Evan nodded, reaching to push a branch out of the way. They had been walking for a few hours, trying to get far away from the Revolters that had attacked them. Evan led the way though his pace was slow, his left hand held tightly over his wound.

"I-I'm f-fine…" Evan mumbled.

"With that stutter I can't tell if you are lying or not." Tyler joked.

"S-Sorry." Evan looked sad, his eyes down on the snow.

"Evan no don't be. That was shitty of me. I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Tyler apologised.

"I-I'm fine...I'm okay." Evan nodded.

"No you aren't. Evan stop." Tyler grabbed Evan's left arm, forcing him to stop. "Look at me." Evan kept his eyes down, still feeling hurt from his joke. "Evan look at me. We've walked far enough today. We don't even know where we're going. Your wound is reopened and we need to care of it." Tyler said when Evan focused on him. Lui watched them nervously, turning his gaze around the woods.

"I-I'm fine…" Evan repeated, pulling his arm away from Tyler. They watched him take one step and collapse into the soft snow, his pack and gun landing on top of him.

"Evan!" Tyler knelt by his side, pulling his pack and gun off him. He rolled Evan over, brushing the snow off his face. "Lui in my pack! I've got two tarps and Evan has a sleeping bag in his. Get them out. Now." Tyler instructed. Lui scrambled to get what he asked as Tyler grabbed the first aid kit. "Use the rope to tie one of the tarps. Make a tent." Tyler turned his attention back to Evan, unzipping his coat to get to the wound. "Evan? Can you hear me? Evan!"

"Can you hear me? Evan! Did you fall asleep?" Evan's eyes flickered open, his physics homework page sticking to his face. He sat up from his desk, black headphones slipping from his head. He pulled them back up, looking at the skype open on his computer, his video call with Jonathan still on going. Jonathan smiled at him as he sat up.

Evan was only eighteen, just two months away from graduating high school and moving on to university. He had a few friends at school but his best friends were people he had met online, making sure to call them every day. They would play online games together, or help each other with homework. Evan was the youngest, the others already graduated, yet he felt so comfortable with them all.

"N-No. I'm fine. I'm awake." Evan yawned, realising he still had ten more questions to do for tomorrow. "Don't let me fall asleep till I'm done, okay?" He said, looking at Jonathan who shook his head.

"Evan you need your sleep. It's not healthy for you to be staying up so late every night. You've been stressing out about this course since you started it. Just for one night, put it aside. Get some sleep or get your mind off it at least for a little bit." Jonathan sighed.

"I need to pass this course, you know that. It's the only big thing I'm worried about right now and as soon as I get this done, I can rest. It won't take long." Evan said, picking up his pencil and leaned over his textbook.

"At least take a break for a little bit. Let's play some GTA. You'll wake up some more. Come on Ev." Jonathan waved his controller in front of the camera, smiling brightly.

"Lemme finish this first." Evan didn't look up, focused on answering the question.

"Come on...Half an hour. Then you can finish your damn psychic homework." Jonathan insisted.

"Physics homework!" Evan laughed, tossing his pencil down. "Fine!" Evan smiled. "But if I fail because of you I'm gonna hunt you down."

"You won't fail. In all the time that I've known you, you have never failed at anything. Don't worry." Jonathan laughed as Evan opened the game, closing his textbook loud enough for Jonathan to hear, letting him know that he had won this time. Jonathan smiled triumphantly. "Half an hour. Than you can go back to studying."

In the morning, Evan woke up to the sound of his alarm clock going off beside him on the desk. He had fallen asleep, gaming controller in hand, skype and game still open. Jonathan had left him a message in the chat that said: Goodnight. Please take care of yourself. I believe in you!

"Is he going to be okay?" Lui asked, the cold wind making him shiver. He pulled his blanket closer, looking at Evan who laid wrapped in the sleeping bag, his right arm wrapped tightly in gauze.

"Yeah. He was like this when I found him. Half dead basically. He just needs rest." Tyler said quietly from where he sat beside Evan. "He knows who you are...How?" Tyler asked after a moment, looking up at him. Lui looked down at the blue tarp, not saying anything for a few moments. "Were you a part of that damn Revolters group?"

"I thought I wouldn't have to fight anymore when I joined them." Lui whispered, pulling at a string on his blanket.

"You were fucking wrong." Tyler snarled. "Evan said you and your group killed Peacekeepers? What for? Peacekeepers don't do harm! They save lives! How horrible of a person do you gotta be to attack Peacekeepers?" Lui didn't answer. "Huh?!" Tyler yelled.

"I didn't want to! I didn't kill any of them! I swear on my life! I didn't kill whoever Evan thinks I killed. I didn't do it! I asked you to let me join because I have seen so much shit in the past few weeks, more than I ever did as soldier! I think I'm going to throw up everytime I see blood, Tyler! You guys seem like my best bet on getting away from it!" Lui felt tears falling from his eyes as he hugged his knees to his chest. Tyler stared at Lui, thinking of what to say.

"I know. I know how you feel. You know...Evan isn't the first Peacekeeper that I've met. A year ago, we were attacked by an enemy regiment. I got wounded pretty bad. There was a lot blood. So much that I feel the same way as you now when I see it." Tyler paused, pulling his blanket around himself. They had given Evan their extra gloves and scarves, trying to keep him as warm as possible. "Anyways...I was saved. Woke up in a Peacekeepers camp, other soldiers like me in beds with various types of wounds. A Peacekeeper, a medic named Kelly took care of me. She visited me every day, made sure I was okay. She told me what was going on in the world. Told me about the Revolters." Tyler paused, a smile on his face from the memory of her. "She told me what their cause was, that they just wanted an end to the war. She said she gets that, understands it. Cause she has seen so many soldiers come into that tent, hurt bad. Most didn't get better. She would have given anything to stop their suffering. I like to think now that she's okay. That she made it." Tyler stopped. Lui waited for him to say more, seeing tears in the pilot's eyes. "But it'd break her heart if she saw what those Revolters were doing now. Killing Peacekeepers like her. Like Evan. I believe you, Lui. I believe that you didn't kill them."

"Why? You were just so angry at me." Lui's voice was barely a whisper.

"Because you didn't fight back when Evan attacked you. If you had killed those people, you wouldn't have thought twice about beating the shit out of another. What's one more death to the list of others? You would have been numb by now to it but instead you care too much." Tyler turned back to Evan who still slept peacefully.

"Are you numb to it now, Tyler?" Lui asked after a few minutes of silence, the only sound being the wind in the trees.

"Only to those who don't matter anymore." Tyler answered.

"Why does Evan matter? You said you found him half dead. You could have left him and be on with it. You could be doing just fine. Instead you gotta worry more about him being able to make it through the day than yourself. Why?" Lui asked, shivering.

"Because he still has hope."


	4. Chapter 4

"You know what I heard?" A Revolter had asked, looking around at the others sitting around the warm fire. Lui pulled a piece off his almost frozen slice of bread, looking up at the Revolter across the campfire, a warm orange glow cast on their faces. "A supply train derailed up north across the border. If we get there we're gonna survive." The Revolter smiled.

"How far north are we talking?" Another Revolter had asked. Lui had kept quiet, pretending to be more interested in his bread but he listened intently.

"Have to check a map again but I'm thinking near the west coast." The Revolter shrugged.

"So you expect us to just walk up north until we find this fucking train? What if someone else gets there first? How do you even know it's there?" The other Revolter demanded.

"The distress call was heard on our radio. It's there."

"Screw that. I don't have a death wish."

The small campfire danced in the cold wind, the sky starting to brighten as the sun rose. Lui sat by the fire, waiting for the small pot of oatmeal to warm up over the fire. Tyler sat on the other side of the campfire, still yawning and rubbing sleep from his eyes. He had insisted on staying awake and keeping guard but his head had nodded forward and he ended up falling asleep beside Evan, his head leaning against Evan's left arm as if it was pillow.

"Where do we go from here?" Lui asked, stirring the oatmeal. Tyler took a drink from his water bottle, putting the cap back on. It mostly frozen but it was better than nothing.

"Depends on how Evan's doing. I don't really know though. There really isn't much out there now is there?" Tyler asked, glancing back at Evan.

"Well maybe we could go north?" Lui asked. Tyler didn't answer, watching Evan intently. Evan seemed to be restless in his sleep, turning his head side to side, quiet sobs shaking his shoulders. "I heard about this train and…Tyler?" Lui followed his gaze to Evan. Evan's eyes were closed tightly, turning his head from side to side in a frantic state. Sobs shook his shoulders, and he breathed heavily. Lui would have thought he was awake and crying if Tyler hadn't said anything.

"He's having a nightmare..." Tyler threw his bottle down to the snow, scrambling over to Evan. "Evan! Come on! Wake up!" He shook his good shoulder with one hand, cupping his face in the other. "Evan!" It's just a dream! Wake up!" Lui stood up, wanting to help but had no idea what to do. He had seen the other Revolters have nightmares before of what they had seen and done. No one had helped them, just laid in their sleeping bags and listened to them cry themselves back to sleep in the dark. "Wake up!" Evan's eyes shot open, letting out a cry as he sat up.

"Get it off! It won't come off! It won't!" Evan screamed, pulling his gloves off his hands and threw them across the tent. He scratched at the palms of his hands as if trying to get something off that only he could see."G-Get if off!" Tyler grabbed Evan's hands forcefully, making him focus.

"There is nothing there, Evan. It was just a nightmare. It wasn't real." Tyler's voice was quiet and soothing as if he had done this several times. Evan stared at his hands with a confused look as if trying to understand what Tyler was saying. Evan tried to scratch at his hands again but was stopped by Tyler. "There is nothing there. You're okay, Evan. You're okay. Whatever you saw, it's gone." Lui picked up Evan's gloves, holding them out to Evan.

"You'll freeze if you don't put those back on." Lui said as Evan took the gloves back, pulling them back over his hands. Lui pulled the tin mugs out of his pack, spooning the oatmeal into them and handed them to Tyler and Evan.

Evan felt sick as he ate, having to force himself to swallow with every bite. His dream had seemed so real, the memory of it repeating in his head. He had been standing in the PeaceKeepers camp, watching the snow fall through the cold brisk air. It was quiet and peaceful, birds singing in the trees and flying overhead. For a moment, it seemed as though it was just like how it had been before Drop Day. Reaching up, he had caught a snowflake in his gloved hands. Yet when he looked down at his palms, he didn't see something beautiful. He saw blood, dark red and soaking his gloves. It dripped from his hands and splashed onto the white snow. He had gasped, trying to shake the blood off. He stumbled backwards, falling to the snow. The snow soaked through his uniform yet when he opened his eyes, it was not snow. He screamed, struggling to get away from it. As he had scrambled to his feet, he tried to get the blood of his hands, pulling his gloves off and clawing at the skin on his hands.

"Get off!" Evan had screamed as if it would do anything. "Get off!"

The snow crunched under their feet, the cold air biting at their cheeks and played with the scarves around their necks and faces. Tyler glanced every so often at the compass in his hand, Lui and Evan following close behind. They decided to go north, the south seeming to be full of Revolters and enemy soldiers. Lui told them about a supply train that had derailed, convincing them that it was a good place to head towards yet they were still nervous about running into someone who might not be so friendly.

"Sides don't matter anymore. Everyone is just fighting for themselves now." Lui argued when they brought up the enemy soldiers and the Revolters. Evan shook his head, the golden feathers of his owl patch glittering like the snow in the light.

"S-Sure. Y-You might be right but inside we will have those loyalties. M-Maybe it's for other people or to a regiment b-but we still have loyalties." Evan stumbled over his words, his stutter slowing him down.

"But some people don't want to live or fight for other people when the world is like this." Lui shot back.

"Okay okay. This isn't a philosophy class. Calm down." Tyler laughed, turning to look back at them.

"You said it yourself though, Tyler. You can only focus on those who matter during a time like this and for some that's themselves." Lui was a little out of breath from the walking. They had been walking uphill for awhile now, walking below the summit of a large peak, keeping to the tree line for cover. The snow was deep, sinking in sometimes and they have to pull each other out.

"Don't quote me." Tyler snapped.

"W-When did you t-talk about this?" Evan asked, sinking in to his knees in to the fresh snow. Lui grabbed his left hand, pulling him out of the deep snow.

"Last night when you were passed out. Speaking of which, you feeling any better?" Tyler asked, looking back at them.

"F-Fine. J-Just a l-little sore now." Evan's left hand went to his wound, feeling the gauze under his sleeve.

"We could take a break if you want. We have been walking all morning." Lui suggested. "We got a pretty good lookout here too and the trees are giving us shelter. Good place to st-"

"Lui shut up." Tyler had stopped, his gun that had been hanging by it's strap off his back was now in his hands. Evan did the same, pulling his gun around. "Something moved over there." Tyler whispered, pointing down the hill to a group of trees and a large boulder jutting out of the snow. The silence was only broken by the creaking of the trees as they moved with the wind. The three stood completely still, not realising that they were holding their breath, eyes on where Tyler had seen something move.

They saw it this time, something dark grey appearing near the side of the boulder before sliding behind it again. Tyler moved first, raising his gun and took aim at the rock. He froze again, waiting. When they saw it again, Tyler pulled the trigger, the gunshot deafening in the silent woods. He lowered the gun slowly, waiting again to see if there was movement. When it moved again, there was another gunshot, firing at them. The bullet flew past Lui's head, colliding into the tree behind him. He could feel the air ripple as it passed, making him tense up as he had been shot.

"Run!" Tyler yelled, sprinting uphill away from the two shooters that fired again. Lui couldn't move, having felt the bark of the tree hit the back of his head when the bullet smashed into the tree. He was aware of Evan grabbing his hand and pulling him through the snow, uphill after Tyler. Feeling his wrist slipping from Evan's grasp as they stumbled through the snow, Lui managed to twist his hand around and hold onto Evan's hand tightly. Another bullet hit the snow near Evan's feet, snow flying upwards from the impact.

Evan let go of Lui's hand, turning around to shoot back. The shooter managed to duck behind a tree, though the one behind was not so lucky. They went down in a spray of blood, landing heavily in the snow. Evan stared with wide eyes and Lui was forced to grab Evan's hand again and keep running. In front of them, Tyler stopped when he heard Evan's gun go off. They had gotten high enough to be past the treeline to see a group of soldiers running through the trees towards them. They were out in the open, their only protection being the large rocks near the summit.

"They aren't enemy soldiers! Who the fuck are they?" Tyler yelled as Evan and Lui caught up to him. Lui looked back, seeing the dark coloured uniforms as the shooters moved through the woods.

"Revolters." Lui said. "They'll kill us or take our supplies and leave us in the cold if they catch us." Lui stammered.

"Then fucking move." Tyler pushed Lui forward, the three running as fast as they could through the deep snow, their packs and weapons weighing them down. They could only hope it was the same for the Revolters.

"Lui!" Lui turned to see Evan desperately try to grab his hand as he slipped on the icy snow. Lui missed Evan's hand, unable to stop his fall. Evan rolled down the steep icy hill, trying to grab onto the snow to stop himself but it was no use.

"Evan!" Tyler started to run after him, stopping when he saw the Revolter run out of the trees towards Evan. "Evan behind you!" Evan looked up at Tyler before rolling onto his back just in time to grab the Revolter's wrist, knife in their hand and throw them off. The blonde Revolter swore, narrowing his blue eyes darkly as Evan quickly got to his feet. The Revolter ran at Evan, blocked again as Evan landed a hard hit to his jaw.

"Tyler shoot him!" Lui cried, watching the Revolter and Evan struggle, seeing Evan hit the Revolter again with a splatter of blood on the snow.

"I'm gonna hit Evan! I can't!" Tyler yelled back, looking through his scope at the two. He couldn't get a clear shot, the Revolter pushing Evan down to the snow with a hard hit to his face.

"You fucker!" The Revolter yelled, an accent in his voice. Evan managed to block another hit, kicking the Revolter off. Evan could feel the stitches on his arm snapping, his left hand going to his right arm as he crawled away from the Revolter up the hill towards Tyler and Lui. Blood soaked through his gloves, and suddenly he was back in the radio tent at the Peacekeepers camp, looking down at the puddle of blood he had landed in, blood dripping from his hands. Evan panicked, forcefully snapped back to reality as the Revolter grabbed his collar, pulling him to his feet. Evan choked and gasped for air, clawing at the Revolter's hands.

"Tyler! He's going to kill him!" Lui yelled, swinging his own gun off his back and aimed at the Revolter. Movement caught his eye and he turned to see another Revolter running at them taking aim at Tyler. Lui dropped his gun, tackling Tyler to snow as the bullet flew over their heads, taking Lui's cap off his head. Lui rolled off Tyler, looking back down at Evan who had managed to get the Revolter off and was now facing off with the one that had just shot at Tyler. Lui and Tyler could only watch as the Revolter moved faster than the other one had, grabbing Evan's right arm and twisted it around, his scream of pain echoing through the trees as the Revolter brought him to the ground. "Tyler we gotta go!"

"I'm not leaving him behind!" Tyler was on his feet and sprinting down the steep hill, ramming the end of his gun into the Revolter's chest, knocking him off Evan.

"You son of a bitch!" The Revolter yelled, hitting Tyler hard enough for him to taste blood. Tyler stumbled back, almost tripping over Evan whose right arm was surrounded in a pool of blood. The blonde revolter had him pinned to the snow, gun to his head.

"Come at me, fucker." Tyler spat blood in the direction of the blonde Revolter who looked disgusted. The Revolter lunged at Tyler who blocked his blow, swinging his other arm around to hit him.

Lui had stayed near the top of the hill, wanting to run down there and fight. He could hear Evan's cries of pain, see the blood spreading on the snow around him and the Revolter who pinned him down. Lui looked back at Tyler who fought with the other Revolter, neither of them able to land a hard hit on the other.

Tyler was caught off guard when the Revolter hit him hard, feeling blood on his face as the skin broke. Tyler fell back onto the snow, looking up to see Lui jump over him, pushing the Revolter away. Lui saw the recognition in the Revolter's eyes as he managed to punch the Revolter, feeling his nose crack under his fist and the blood on his hand. The Revolter snarled, his elbow connecting with Lui's head. Lui fell to the snow beside Evan, his body limp as he fell into unconsciousness. Tyler was back up though not for long, another hit knocking him out.

Evan gasped and sobbed, the pain worse than it had been before. He stared at his friends with wide eyes, struggling to push the Revolter off and get up.

"T-T-Tyler...W-W-Wake up...L-Lui...L-ui…" Evan struggled to even speak, tears falling from his eyes as he closed them tightly.

"How is he still awake? Knock him out."

"You got your ass beat." Brock laughed. Evan sighed, rolling his eyes. They walked down a path behind Evan's house to a river that during the summer months, became a great place to swim, the neighbourhood kids spending most of their time there. As the day had gotten hotter, they decided to go to the river, bringing water tubes and packing a lunch.

"I'm sorry I've been too damn busy graduating and writing exams to make sure my gaming skills are still good." Evan shot back. Brock and Jonathan laughed, following him down the path. As a surprise for his high school graduation, his friends had come to visit him for the first time to celebrate. "Fight me, Brock."

"So how does it feel, Evan, to be free from school?" Jonathan asked, changing the subject. Evan turned to look back at him, the warm sunlight shining through the trees.

"I got accepted to university. I'm not free yet." Evan rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, Ev. Chill out." Jonathan laughed.

"I am _chilled out._ " Evan said as they reached the river. A few other people that Evan knew were there, swimming or sitting on the rocks in the warm sun. Evan set his pack down on the rocks as Brock tossed the tubes down.

"Uh huh." Brock smiled, sitting down on the warm rock to untie his shoes. Evan stepped towards the water, looking down at the slow moving current. It was the perfect depth to jump off the rocks, the water clear enough to see to the bottom. "Jonathan don't!"

Evan turned around in time to see Jonathan run at him, wrapping his arms around his waist and tackle him into the river. Evan flailed as they fell, landing in the cold water the knocked the air out of him. Air bubbles floated around Evan, the sunlight glittering through the surface. Evan spread his arms out, the current swirling around him. Under him, Jonathan smiled brightly, watching Evan swim up to the surface.

"You bitch!" Evan yelled, splashing water at Jonathan when they got back to the surface. Brock was laughing, and Evan couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. They spent the rest of the afternoon at the river, floating around lazily on the water tubes or sitting in the sun. As the sun started to go down, they wandered back up the path to Evan's house.

As Evan ordered take out, Brock flopped down on the couch, turning on the TV and Jonathan had gone upstairs to change. Evan glanced back at Brock who had sat up, staring at the TV with wide eyes. Video of a bomb explosion on the news played, the reporter's voice sounding stern.

"War has been declared-" Was all Evan heard but it was enough to send fear shooting him, his phone falling from his hand and landed on the floor with a loud bang that made Brock jump. He stood by the couch, meeting Brock's gaze.

"It'll blow over. Don't look so scared, Ev. It'll be okay." Brock reassured him. Evan knelt down, gripping his phone tightly. "Evan. It's okay." Brock reached for his hand, suddenly pulling Evan over the back of the couch and watched him land on the mess of sleeping bags and blankets on the living room floor where Brock and Jonathan slept. Evan laughed, throwing a pillow at Brock and the moment of fear was gone.

The world faded in and out. Lui remembered being dragged through the snow, looking up at the falling snow and the dark trees weighed down with the snow before unconsciousness swept him down again. He remembered seeing dark tents and people with masks and scarves over their faces looking down at him, some laughing and jeering, others silent and watching as Lui fell back into unconsciousness.

"Wakey wakey." The noise stirred Lui. He tried to move but found he was unable to. "Wake the fuck up." The sound of snapping fingers startled him. He opened his eyes, taking in the dark tent he was in. His hands and feet were tied, the sharp plastic digging into his skin. He was back to back with Tyler who leaned heavily against him, still unconscious. Across the tent, tied to one of the cold metal support poles, Evan's head hung down against his chest. His arm was bleeding badly, blood dripping from his sleeve and hand to the tent floor, pooling beside him.

"You...You gotta help him...He's going to die if you don't." Lui said weakly, looking at Evan. The blonde Revolter glanced over his shoulder to Evan. Lui watched the Revolter get up, glancing down at Lui.

"You know me, don't you Lui? I'm Brian, the one you fucking lied to when you said you shot that Peacekeeper. Remember?" Lui felt sick. He knew who Brian was, having joined the Revolters at the same time as him. Brian had a reputation for being a terroriser, enjoying this new brutal, bloody fight for survival and the power he had as a Revolter. "You told me you shot him. An easy fucking shot, eh?" Lui watched Brian walk over to Evan, kicking his leg as if to wake him up. "He's lucky he ended up with you. See if we found him and you weren't with him, we would have killed him. You are a good soldier Lui, we like that. So we're gonna let you join us again. Your friends here can too. If you say no though...well we don't keep people around here who are useless to us." Lui felt anger rising in him. If he wasn't tied, he would have attacked Brian, wanting to beat him to a pulp. He would have attacked any Revolter he saw.

"The only way I would even think to consider your offer is if you help Evan! He's going to die if you don't! Even if I say yes, it'll still be pointless because he'll be dead! Help him!" Lui yelled, hoping it would wake Tyler up. He didn't want to be alone in facing the Revolters. Brian seemed surprised by how angry Lui was, not sure of what to say. He looked back at Evan, his demeanor seeming to change when he saw the wound on Evan's arm and the worry in Lui's eyes. The tent flap opened, their attention turning to the other Revolter that was bruised from his fight with Tyler.

"The guys out there are having a great time thinking about they want to do these fuckers." The Revolter laughed.

"Lui wants us to save the Peacekeeper, Marcel." Brian sounded concerned for Evan but it was ignored by Marcel as he walked over to Evan.

"Who? This guy?" Marcel grabbed Evan by his hair, pulling his face up. Evan's eyes fluttered open, widening when he focused on Marcel. "He should be dead already." Marcel let go of Evan's hair, kneeling down beside him. "How did you make it this far, peacekeeper?"

"I-I d-don't k-know. T-Tyler s-saved m-me." Evan's stutter sounded painful, stumbling over his words no matter how hard he tried to talk without the stutter.

"With that stutter, I can't tell if you are lying or not." Marcel spat. Evan looked away, closing his eyes tightly. He opened them again for a moment, making Lui wonder if he was trying to figure out if this was all a dream or not.

"Don't fucking say that to him ever again or I swear to god I will cut your throat open." Lui looked over his shoulder Tyler who turned his gaze slowly to Marcel, his eyes narrowing. Marcel stood up, walking over to Tyler. Lui winced when Marcel hit Tyler across the face.

"Brian...Marcel please just listen to me." Lui tried to get the attention away from his wounded friends. "Remember when we heard about that supply train up north? Maybe it's really out there. We have a shot at survival if we go north! Get away from here! Once supplies here start getting low, people are gonna turn on each other and it's gonna get bad. Let us go and you can come with us. We'll go north!" Marcel laughed but Brian seemed to be listening.

"There ain't shit out there." Marcel snapped, leaving the tent. Lui looked up at Brian, fighting back the tears in his eyes.

"We'll...We'll let you sleep on whether you wanna join us again or not, Lui." Brian said, hesitating to follow Marcel. Evan looked up at Lui, his gaze moving to Tyler who was struggling to move away from Lui.

"Don't worry, Owl Boy. It's all gonna be okay." Tyler looked over his shoulder at Evan with a smile. His face dropped when he saw Evan shake his head.

"I-I d-don't b-believe y-you."


	5. Chapter 5

Hope had been a hard thing to come by during the war before Drop Day. Soldiers weren't quite sure what they were fighting for and the Revolters weren't quite sure what they were revolting against only that they knew they didn't want to fight. Some soldiers though, when faced with the worst of it, wounded and bloody, found themselves in a place of hope, a Peacekeeper's camp where refugee children and their mothers would walk among the tents, bringing smiles to the tired soldiers. The Peacekeepers, in their red and white striped jackets took care of the wounded soldiers, easing their pain and their worries.

Brian remembered, near the start of the war, being in a PeaceKeepers camp, laying in a cot with a wounded leg and appreciating the kindness of the Peacekeepers. Yet when he got better they sent him back to the fronts and all he had was the hope the Peacekeepers had given him to fight back the anger at the war that had grown in him. When he left the Army after Drop Day, he still thought about that hope, using it to push himself forward. Yet when he found himself at the Peacekeepers camp with the Revolters, watching them die, the hope started to dissolve as he saw what the people to could do to each other when their fear and anger took over.

The nagging thought in his mind of the Peacekeeper in the tent, slowly bleeding to death would not leave Brian's mind as he sat beside Marcel by the large fire. He looked down at his full and still hot cup of hot chocolate swirling it around in his cup.

"What's up with you?" Marcel asked, punching Brian's arm. Brian winced, feeling sore from his fight with the Peacekeeper. He hadn't seen the red and white stripes until he had pinned him down the snow and Marcel was there. There was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Nothing. I'll be right back." Brian got up, keeping his hand over the top of his hot mug as he walked away from the campfire. Marcel watched him walk away for a few moments, turning back to look at the fire when he was out of sight.

In one of the tents full of supplies stolen from the Peacekeepers and the pilots they had found in the woods, Brian found a first aid kit, checking for gauze, needles and stitches. He found a bottle of painkillers in another, tossing it into his kit before grabbing his mug. He stopped, looking back at the three new packs that they had thrown into the pile when they dragged the soldiers and the Peacekeeper into camp. He found the Peacekeeper's pack, rummaging through the pack till he found the crumpled letters at the bottom, damp from the snow soaking through. He figured that he was bound to have something personal, something that would make him happy in his pack and the letters would have to do.

"Dear Evan…" Brian read through one as he hurried towards the dark green tent, hoping that it wasn't too late. The Peacekeeper was breathing slowly making Brian think for a moment that he wasn't at all. Lui and Tyler were quiet, neither of them making a sound when Brian walked into the tent. He knelt down in front of the Peacekeeper, trying to think of what the Peacekeepers who had helped him said to calm him. The Peacekeeper opened his eyes slowly, looking up at Brian. He panicked, trying to move away when he realised whi he was, letting out a small cry of pain as his weight leaned on his bad arm, his sleeve covered in blood. "Hey! Hey! It's okay. It's okay. I'm gonna take care of you. Your name is Evan, right?" Brian asked softly.

"Y-Y-Yeah..." Evan stammered. "P-P-Please...D-D-Don't h-h-hurt m-me." Brian set the first aid kit down beside Evan, pulling the knife hidden in his boot out. Evan panicked again as Brian reached around him, cutting the plastic band that tied his hands.

"I brought you something. Thought it might make you happy." Brian handed him the mug of hot chocolate first, seeing Evan's eyes go wide when he saw the sweet hot drink. Evan took the tin cup with his left hand, feeling the heat of it through his glove. "And I brought you these. Keep your mind off the pain while I take care of your arm." Brian set the letters down beside Evan. Evan stuttered, trying to say thank you. "Don't talk. It's okay." Brian knelt by his left side, reaching his hands up to tear the sleeve of his uniform jacket.

"N-No! N-N-No! D-D-Don't r-rip it….P-Please." Evan stuttered.

"We can get you another jacket, it's okay Evan." Brian stopped when Evan spoke, looking away from the wound to meet his gaze.

"N-No...N-Not l-like t-this." Evan set the tin mug down, reaching up with his left hand to pull his lapel back to reveal the golden owl patch hand sewn onto the jacket with great care and detail. "I-It m-means a-lot t-to m-me." The golden feathers seemed to have lost some of their shine, turning red from splatters of blood, the big yellow eyes seeming to watch Brian closely.

"Okay...Well you're gonna have to lean forward a little so I can at least get this side of your jacket off." Brian said softly. He helped Evan lean forward, trying to shush him when Evan cried from the pain. He pulled the sleeve off slowly, the white shirt underneath now a dark shade of red. "You'll at least need a new shirt. Hope that doesn't have sentimental value." Brian laughed. Evan shook his head, smiling slightly as he leaned back, reaching for the mug. Brian set about cleaning the wound and the dried blood as Evan looked down at the letters, reading the smudged ink words. Brian glanced up from the wound to see Evan's eyes water, a smile on his face. The cloth in Brian's hand soon turned red as the blood came off Evan's arm. The wound was deep, the stitches from Tyler torn. "Just keep your mind off the pain, Evan. It's gonna hurt for a little bit. Don't focus on it." Brian grabbed the tweezers from the first aid kit, slowly pulling the torn stitches out one by one. Evan bit his tongue, focusing on the letter from Brock and Jonathan, some of them going back three years to the start of the war. Once the old stitches were gone, Brian started restitching the deep wound. "Almost done. I got some painkillers too. They're the stuff they give to guys with bad wounds. You'll be out. Won't feel a thing."

"T-T-Thank g-g-god." Evan stuttered with a smile. Brian pulled the stitches tight and Evan winced, tightening his grip on the papers that crumpled in his hand.

"There we go...All better now." Brian wrapped the gauze thick around his wound. "Do you believe Lui? Do you believe there is a derailed train out there?" He asked after a moment of silence, glancing through the dark at Lui and Tyler.

"I-I-I d-don't k-know...I-I h-h-hope s-so. C-could w-we g-get t-to it?" Evan stuttered as Brian pulled the cap off the painkillers.

"The problem would be getting out of here." Brian said quietly, giving Evan two painkillers. Evan swallowed the pills down with his hot chocolate, looking up at Brian as he finished the hot drink. "Do-able." Brian added. Evan could start to feel the effects of the heavy duty painkillers after a few minutes, his eyes fluttering as his arm started to go numb. "Whatever happens tomorrow morning Evan...You gotta promise me that'll you'll fight okay? If you get an opportunity, just run...Do what you did at the Peacekeepers camp. Promise me?"

"I-I-I p-p-promise…." Evan stammered, feeling his eyes close, the letters still held tight in his hands.

Tyler let out a cry of shock as he had dropped from his plane, crouching behind it as bullets bounced off the plane, flying over his head.

"We gotta run!" Jonathan yelled over the roar of the machine guns and bullets ricocheting off the planes. "We're dead out here!" In one hand, Jonathan held his gun and in the other, a piece of crumpled paper.

"What the fuck is that?" Tyler yelled, pointing to the paper.

"If I'm gonna die, I'd at least like to read the fucking letter my friend sent me!" Jonathan yelled. They had been caught off guard by the attack, ducking for cover where they could. Snow fell softly from the sky, out of place with the violence, the sky dark with smoke left from the bombs dropped on Drop Day. Tyler reached for the paper, snatching it out of his hands.

"I'll read it for you. You shoot! You got a better aim with that gun then I do!" Tyler yelled, unfolding the paper. Jonathan hesitated before nodding, standing up for a moment to fire several rounds in the direction of the attacking soldiers before ducking back down again. "Dear Jonathan. Sorry for taking so long to write back. Wish we still had internet, you'd be one skype call away." Bullets flew over their heads, sparks flying as they hit the metal of the plane. "I hope you are doing okay. I've seen so many soldiers come into the camp recently so the fighting must be getting pretty bad. A lot of them are hurt bad and we're doing the best we can. When this war is over, I don't think I'll ever be able to look at blood the same, in a video game or real life. It makes me sick seeing what people can do to each other." Jonathan fired again while Tyler read the letter out loud, yelling over the sound of the guns. A bullet narrowly missed Jonathan as he ducked down again. "Anyways, enough about me. I hope you are doing okay. I'm worried about you and Brock out there on the front. I hope we can see each other again soon though not here. Not at this camp. Not like the other soldiers that come here." Jonathan looked up at Tyler who saw the tears in his eyes. "Are you and your pilot buddy doing okay? You always beat me at those war games so maybe if we can apply the same logic to real life, I know you're okay. Please write back soon!" Jonathan stood up again, the shells from his gun bouncing onto the pavement. "With love, Evan." A splatter of blood made Tyler jump as it hit his face and landed on the white paper, smearing the words. Tyler looked up at Jonathan as he staggered back, falling to the pavement, the gunshot wound on his shoulder bleeding badly. "Jonathan!"

Tyler woke up with a start, breathing heavily as he looked around the tent. He looked over his shoulder to see Evan, noticing the white gauze wrapped around his arm and sighed with relief knowing that he would be okay. Lui was wide awake. He hasn't slept all night, the thoughts of what might happen keeping him awake. He had watched Brian take care of Evan's wound, talking with him quietly. He was comforted knowing that Evan would be okay if they made it through this.

"Tyler...Are you up yet?" Lui asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"I'm scared. I'm really fucking scared. I don't want to join these guys again and I don't wanna die." Lui's breath hitched in his throat, his eyes closing tightly. Tyler stared at the green tent wall, thinking about everything he had seen in the past few weeks.

"I'm not. I've been really damn close to dying before. I'm not going down without a fight I'll tell you that much." Tyler said. Lui laughed, though it broke with a sob. "You should do the same. We've both been through a lot. We've killed people. Left people behind. Why let it end in a shitty way?" They heard footsteps walking through the snow towards the tent, hearing voices and laughter. "You hear me, Lui? Don't let it end shitty!"

They were dragged from the tent towards the centre of the camp. Tyler struggled, kicking and hitting with his tied hands, swearing and screaming. At one point, the Revolters carrying him let him drop to the snow, watching him struggle to crawl away. They laughed, aiming sharp kicks to his sides before yanking him back up again. Lui and Evan were quiet, only struggling a little. They were thrown down in the snow, surrounded by Revolters who taunted and yelled at them, some carrying guns. Evan's eyes found Brian in the crowd, faintly remembering what Brian had said the night he had an opportunity, he had to try to escape and he was searching desperately for one as a Revolter stepped forward, gun swung over his back.

"We like you Lui. Someone liked you enough to patch up this mother fucker." The Revolter kicked Evan's right arm with force, making him cry out as the pain shot through him. Tyler tensed, wanting to get up and fight but he could only watch. Evan looked back up to see that Brian was gone. "Saved his damn life. So how about you make a good choice and come back to us. It's nice and safe here. Ain't nobody gonna kill you like they would out there."

"No...No we'd still die here. You all can go to hell for all I care." Lui spat. Tyler and Evan stared at him as he spoke, trying to ignore the freezing cold snow soaking through their uniforms.

"Well look here! We got ourselves a perfect example of what happens when you refuse the Revolters!" The Revolter yelled, pulling Evan to his knees. Evan cried out, struggling to get away. He felt the cold metal of a gun barrel against the back of his head and he froze, staring at the snow.

"No! Don't! No!" Tyler yelled, struggling against the plastic tie that bound his hands and feet. "No!" Evan was struggling to breathe, his eyes wide with fear. Lui stared, regret and fear crashing over him. He looked away, not wanting to see the Peacekeeper die. The gunshot made them all jump, a strangled cry coming from Tyler who had closed his eyes before it happened. Lui opened his eyes, not expecting to see the Revolter who was about to shoot Evan, fall dead to the snow. Evan was visibly shaking, his eyes on the crowd of stunned Revolters.

A smoke bomb flew over the crowd, landing among the Revolters who scattered as the smoke filled the air. Brian was suddenly by Lui's side, using his knife to cut the ties. Lui scrambled to his feet, grabbing the dead Revolter's gun to cover Brian as he cut Tyler's ties who immediately went to Evan's side, pulling him into a hug. "You're okay. You're okay. You're okay." He repeated as Brian cut Evan's plastic ties, pulling him to his feet. Evan nodded shakily, still struggling to breathe.

"We gotta go! Now!" Brian yelled as Lui opened fire on a group of Revolters, the bullets piercing through the green tents and the unfortunate Revolters who got in his way. They ran past the tents, Brian leading the way. They grabbed guns from the fallen Revolters, taking cover behind tents when Revolter's shot at them. Brian lead the way to the supply tent, grabbing a pack and stuffed what he could grab into it. The others found their packs, Evan finding his letters tucked safely in his coat pocket after a moment of fear when he thought they were gone. He turned to Tyler, seeing a blood stained piece of paper fall from his pack as he ran towards the entrance to the tent.

"T-Tyler..." Evan picked up the paper, recognising the words he had written. "T-Tyler!" He turned to looked back at Evan, seeing the letter in his hands. Tyler's eyes widened at the sight of it in Evan's hand, remembering reading his words aloud over the sound of gunfire. "W-Why d-do y-you have this?" Evan stuttered, his eyes on the bloodstains.

"Evan...I...He..." Tyler struggled for words, having to stop when the tent was shot at. They ducked for cover, hiding behind the pile of stolen packs. Tyler tried to grab the letter from Evan but he wouldn't let him.

"T-Tell me!" Evan cried.

"Evan, I'm sorry!" Tyler yelled. Evan stared at him, holding the paper tightly in his hand for a few moments before stuffing it into his pocket with the others. He reloaded his gun, stepping out of the tent with Lui and Brian, opening fire on the Revolters that shot at them.

Lui stayed close to Evan, the sound of their guns deafening. He turned back to see Tyler step out of the tent as a group of Revolters ran towards them, a pinging noise and a flash of a silver ring catching Lui's eye. He watched Tyler throw the grenade, sending it flying through the air towards the Revolters.

"Get down!" Tyler yelled. They dropped, holding their arms over their heads as the grenade exploded, their ears ringing as they got back to their feet and tried not to look at the bloody mess left by the explosion.

Tyler was caught off guard when he was tackled into the snow, knocking the wind out of him. Tyler struggled, looking up at Marcel who hit him hard, bruising his eye. Tyler grabbed his gun, using it to push Marcel off.

"Marcel! Come with us!" Brian yelled, pulling him to his feet. Evan didn't go near Tyler, making Lui help him. Tyler could see the anger and the pain on Evan's face, fearing what he would do once they got out of the camp.

"No! There is nothing out there! We'll freeze to death!" Marcel shot back.

"You don't know that!" Brian cried as they were shot at again. Brian grabbed Marvel's arm, dragging him with them as they ran through the camp. Marcel had no choice now, forced to run after them. "There is a ridge not far once we get into the woods! We get over it and we're safe!" Brian called out. The snow was starting to fall heavily, making it harder to see and aim when they turned to shoot back at the Revolters that chased after them. They could see the ridge, a steep hill that went down to a valley and denser, darker woods.

Lui and Marcel stayed back a little, turning to shoot through the trees at the Revolters, the gunshots echoing through the frozen woods. They turned and followed the others, sliding down the steep hill. Tyler ended up falling, rolling most of the way down. He slid to a stop near Brian, sighing in relief as Lui and Marcel caught up. The sound of a reloading gun made Lui turn and quickly back up into Brian and Marcel who held their guns ready. Tyler opened his eyes looking up at the barrel of Evan's gun, his eyes dark with rage. At first, Tyler wasn't sure of what to do, glancing at the others who didn't come to help, scared of Evan and his loaded gun.

"Evan. Let's talk about this, okay?" Tyler held his hands up, the others staring with wide eyes.

"Y-You...Y-You told me that he was okay! You lied to me!" Evan yelled, his grip tightening on his gun.

"Evan. Calm down." Lui stepped towards Evan who turned to face him, aiming the gun at him. Lui held his hands up, backing away. Evan turned back to Tyler, tears falling from his eyes.

"Y-You lied! H-He's dead...i-isn't he?" Evan yelled."J-Jonathan i-is dead! I-Isn't he?" Evan's hands shook as he aimed the gun at Tyler's head. Tyler reached up suddenly, grabbing Evan's left wrist and threw him down on to the snow. The gun went off, the bullet sending snow flying into the air and the others fear for a moment that Evan had shot Tyler. Tyler tackled Evan to the ground, pulling the gun from his hands and threw it towards Lui. Evan screamed and yelled, hitting and kicking at Tyler. "F-Fuck you! Y-You fucking liar!" Evan yelled, hitting Tyler. Tyler managed to get Evan into a lock hold, holding his head between both arms. Evan still struggled, reaching up to try to pull Tyler's arms off.

"I don't know what happened to Jonathan, okay? He got shot! The fighting got really bad! I had to leave him behind. I don't know what happened to him. I'm sorry." Tyler said sternly. Evan still struggled weakly, leaning against Tyler as tears streamed down his face. "I'm sorry."


	6. Chapter 6

"Get up." The cold snow made Evan feel numb, his fingers and cheeks stinging from the freezing wind. In his gloved hands, the crumpled bloodstained letter dangled from his hands. "Evan get up." Evan didn't move. He hadn't since Tyler released him from the chokehold, sitting in the snow while the others argued over Brian's map. They all had no idea where exactly to go or how far they would have to walk. "Evan get the fuck up." Tyler held his gloved hand out to Evan who stared at it before slowly looking up at him.

"W-Why?" Evan's voice was quiet.

"I'm not gonna leave you here. Get up. We have to go now or those fucking Revolters are gonna find us." Tyler said again, his tone sharp. Evan didn't move, his dark eyes on the snow, watching it sparkle faintly in the light just like the faded feathers of his owl patch.

"Y-You had no p-problem leaving J-Jonathan behind. T-This s-shouldn't be any d-different." Evan spat bitterly, reaching up to the patch on his jacket, pulling at the edges as if to pull it off. "J-Just l-leave m-me. G-Go." Tyler stared at Evan, his expression becoming dark and angry. Tyler leaned forward as if to pull Evan to his feet but instead grabbed Evan's pack from beside him, tossing it to the others who stood behind him, watching. Marcel picked up the pack, hoisting it over his shoulder. Evan waited for Tyler to turn around and walk away but he didn't. Instead, Tyler grabbed Evan's left wrist hard enough to bruise, yanking him harshly to his feet.

"Do you really want to fucking die, Evan? Because I am really fucking close to leaving you here! Say that shit to me again and I will! I will leave you here to rot! I don't fucking care! I've done all this shit to keep you alive and this is what you say? Fuck you, Evan! Stay here if you want! If not, you had better fucking start walking." Tyler turned, walking away from Evan into the woods. Marcel and Brian stared at Evan for a few moments before following Tyler. Lui didn't move, his eyes on Evan. Evan rubbed the tears in his eyes away with his sleeves, tucking the letter into his pocket as he walked towards Lui.

"Evan…" Lui looked at him with wide eyes. Evan pushed past him, following Tyler, Brian and Marcel.

"C-C-Come o-on L-Lui. Y-You d-don't w-want t-to g-get l-left b-behind." Evan's sutter broke. Lui sighed, having no choice but to follow. A strong cold wind made him shiver, the wind throwing snowflakes into the air that swirled around the group as they walked.

The sky overhead got lighter as the day went on but the dark thick clouds never parted and the snow never stopped falling. They stopped after walking for a few hours to take a break, Evan and Tyler not even looking at each other. Instead Marcel and Tyler got into a fight about something stupid, something about getting snow in one of their packs. Lui stayed close to Evan the whole time, not just to make sure that he didn't just stop and let them leave him behind, but because he had latched on Evan. Evan just being alive, having made it this far told him that he could make it.

Everywhere that Lui had been in the past few years, there was always someone that he had stayed close to, believing that if he stayed with them, it would all be okay. Maybe that was why Evan had his owl patch. It told him that he'd be okay.

When Lui had been in the military, it hadn't been a patch, but a person that told him. Daithi had always told him every day that it was okay before they went out on patrols or advanced towards the front, engaging in battles that still rattled Lui with what he had seen and heard. What he remembered most clearly was hearing a soldier cry out for his mother in a delirious state, covered in blood and dirt from the grenade that had just exploded in front of him. Lui could remember everything about that moment and when he had told Daithi, he had told Lui that it wasn't his fault, that it was okay.

The sky had darkened and the air got colder, the occasional large snowflake falling from the sky. Among the trees, a small green tent had set up, the floor of it covered with sleeping bags and blankets. Outside of the tent, a campfire cast a warm orange glow on the trees, smoke drifting up towards the sky. Sitting on the larger pieces of wood they found, Tyler, Marcel, Lui and Brian warmed their hands, waiting for their food to warm up. Evan lay in the tent, having been in there since they set it up. He refused to come out, huddled in his sleeping bag, a warm blanket wrapped around himself.

"You should go to talk to him, Tyler." Lui finally said quietly, looking up at him. Tyler didn't say anything, staring at the fire. "He probably believes that you meant what you said."

"What if I did mean it?" Tyler turned his gaze to Lui.

"Then you're an asshole." Lui looked away, crossing his arms. Tyler sighed, getting up.

"Fine." Tyler spat, walking towards the tent. He opened the flap, looking down at Evan who had buried himself under the other blankets and sleeping bags. "You aren't going to share?" There was no answer. "Evan? Are you awake?"

"Y-You care?" A stuttering whisper asked from under the blankets.

"Yes." Tyler sat down beside the huddle, his eyes on the group by the fire. "Evan. I'm sorry. I didn't mean those things. I'm just scared. Like really scared. You'd never guess it but I am. I'm so full of guilt and pain and fear. I'm trying really hard Evan and when you said that earlier...I just...It all just exploded. I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at the mother fuckers who dropped those bombs and ruined everyone's life." Tyler paused, realising he was getting off track. "Anyways...I just want you to know that I wouldn't leave you behind. Ever. I need you. Lui and the others do too. So if you feel up to it, you should come join us. Have something to eat. Brian's gonna make some hot chocolate too. Please, Owl boy?" There was still no answer. "Think about it." Tyler said as he got up and left the tent, zipping it closed again so the cold air wouldn't get in. Under the blankets, Evan rubbed at his eyes again, his left wrist having turned a dark rainbow of colours, the bruise covering most of his wrist. It throbbed with pain, his right arm feeling numb. He could hear the others talking outside and the occasional laugh.

"So then I was like 'boy!" Marcel laughed mid story, the sound of the tent zipper opening catching their attention. "Look who's finally joining us." Evan shrugged as he walked over to him, sitting down beside Lui. Brian handed Evan a cup of hot chocolate who murmured a quiet 'thank you'. "So what do they call you anyways, Peacekeeper?" Marcel asked.

"W-W-What?" Evan took a sip from the warm drink.

"You mean like a soldier name? He ain't a soldier. He's a Peacekeeper." Tyler laughed.

"Doesn't matter anymore. Everyone is fighting their own war now. That makes them soldiers." Brian said quietly. They glanced up at Brian, then turned back to Evan who kept his eyes down. "So we should give you a soldier name, Evan. Make it official."

"I-It's okay. I-I don't need one." Evan shrugged the idea off. He held the warm mug tightly, watching the steam rise.

"Aw come on! It's fun! Mine is 'Terroriser.' What's your's Tyler? I know Marcel, you don't really have one. Lui, sometimes we call you Calibre. But what about you, Tyler?" Brian smiled. Evan couldn't see why that was his seemed to be the opposite of terrorising. He was kind and smiling, even saved their lives.

"Wildcat." Tyler shrugged, a small smile on his face.

"That's so fucking lame." Marcel chimed in.

"Listen here you fucker. It's better then not having one. You think you are bett-"

"Tyler." Brian stopped him. "I think it's cool, calm down."

"What's that thing called that makes cars and stuff go really fast?" Lui asked out of the blue. The others were silent for a moment, thinking.

"Noss?" Tyler's brow furrowed. "You're thinking of calling him Noss? That's fucking lame. Just call him Owl Boy." Evan wanted to hide his face, hating that they were talking about him like this in front of him.

"No! Like Evanoss? No that's stupid." Lui took a sip from his hot drink, thinking. "Enoss?" They shook their heads and Evan cringed.

"Vanoss?" Brian suggested.

"Yes! That's it!" Lui laughed. Evan felt his face warm with a blush, pulling his scarf over his face in an attempt to hide it. "We'll call you Vanoss."

"I-I'm o-okay with E-Evan." Evan shrugged.

"Nope. You're Vanoss. You're stuck with it." Marcel laughed.

"I like it. It's got a nice ring to it. Vanoss. Intense." Tyler smiled.

"Yeah it's way better than Wildcat." Marcel smirked.

"Fight me." Tyler spat. Evan hid his smile as he took a drink from his hot drink. PeaceKeepers were not as close as soldiers were. They didn't sit around campfires and give each other nicknames or tell stories about their kills or what they've done. They were always too busy taking care of the wounded or trying to get some rest. Evan hadn't felt this close to people in a long time, the feeling of being accepted making him feel happy, something he thought would be impossible.

"I got my nickname on Drop Day." Brian said after a moment, breaking the silence. The mention of Drop Day sent chills through all of them. "We were going into a fight trying to take Seattle back. I barely remember when I wasn't firing my gun at some enemy soldier. That's how I got the name. Terrified the guys in my regiment. Then all of a sudden there was this gust of wind and it started snowing ash. Probably the most terrifying moment of my life cause the fighting just stopped. Just when completely silent. No one shot their gun or anything. Just nothing. I don't think I've ever been so scared before." The fire crackled and popped, sparks flying into the sky. "The war ended but no one won."

As the night went on, they pushed the thoughts of Drop Day away, thinking only about the good times, laughing when Evan didn't respond at first to his new name and feeling warmed by the hot chocolate. When the tired ache settled over all of them, they found themselves in their tent, huddled close to each other for warmth as a cold wind blew at the tent.

"L-Lui?" Evan whispered quietly in the darkness, breaking the frozen silence.

"Yeah?" Lui asked from the other side of Tyler who snored lightly.

"W-Why V-Vanoss? W-Why did y-you n-name me that?" Evan asked, looking up at the roof of tent.

"Because you give us the power to keep going. To stay strong. Only seemed suitable." Lui answered after a few moments of silence.

"O-Oh." Evan didn't know what to say, having never thought about himself like that. "T-Thank y-you?"

"Don't say that to me. You should be thanking yourself."

When the bombs dropped, they had thought that happiness had disappeared with the sunlight and warmth. They had thought that their lives had become only a fight for survival, that no one could trusted.

Yet the four soldiers and the Peacekeeper found themselves feeling happy again, as if there was hope in their lives. Every day, they continued north and every night they would stop, share stories around the campfire with laughter and smiles, and huddle close together under blankets and sleeping bags for warmth when they slept.

One day, Tyler had been lost in thought as he walked when a ball of ice and snow collided into the back of his head, knocking him off balance. He had wiped around and glared at the four who looked away with innocence except for Lui who laughed and threw another snowball. Soon they were taking cover behind trees, laughing as they balled the snow in their gloved hands and wiped it each other, the balls of snow exploding upon impact followed by cries of shock and a laugh.

Another night, they built a bonfire that melted the snow around it and the trees around their camp glowed orange as sparks and smoke shot upwards into the dark sky. Evan had held onto a blanket, letting it fly around him as he spun and danced around the fire. He spread his arms out and the blanket flared out as if it were his wings that would take him far away. Evan laughed as he spun and twirled, drunk off the alcohol that Marcel had brought. Just a few small drinks had been enough to get him up and spinning. The others had laughed, just watching Evan at first before Lui joined in, hollering and throwing snow into the air as the others joined, spinning, and shouting. In the morning, they reached the peak of a mountain, seeing the frozen world around them. The five believed that they were the new kings of this frozen wasteland, shouting and throwing their hands in the air as they kicked up the snow at the top of the cliff, challenging the world to try to stop them now. They believed that this happiness could last forever but forever's not for everyone.

The sky darkened quickly and the wind blew harshly, turning finger tips and lips a shade of blue. The storm was coming in quickly, forcing the group to stop and set up their camp. It was a struggle to set up the tent, the wind clawing at the thick fabric and the tarps as they fought to pin them down. There was no point in having a fire, the wind only blowing out the tiny sparks.

So Evan, Brian, Marcel, Lui and Tyler were forced to stay in their tent and listen to the wind howl, the snow falling so thickly it was impossible to see through the woods.

"Do you think it'll stop soon? I'm hungry." Tyler complained, wrapped tightly in his sleeping bag. As much as they tried to keep it out, the cold still crept in. They shivered violently though told each other they were fine. Lui however, stayed near the wall of the tent, perfectly still. He stared ahead at the wall of the tent, his eyes closing for a few moments before reopening them. His sleeping bag wasn't as thick as the others were but he insisted on keeping his, wanting Evan and the others to have the warm ones. He said they needed the warmth more which didn't make much sense but they didn't argue it. They were too exhausted to argue. Marcel and Tyler could be in the same space and not fight about something which surprised them all.

"M-Me t-too." Evan stuttered, his teeth chattering.

"It'll end. Don't worry about it. Just get some rest. It'll be over in the morning." Brian said from the center of the tent, trying to get as much warmth as possible.

"What if it doesn't? What if we get buried in here by the snow? You can get buried in snow, Terroriser. I've heard of it happening." Marcel said quickly, his eyes wide.

"T-That's a-an a-avalanche." Evan whispered.

"Who asked you, Vanoss?" Marcel spat. Evan sighed, pulling the sleeping bag over his head as he laid down beside Tyler, leaning his head against his arm.

"Hey calm down. It's okay. It's gonna stop." Brian reassured him.

"You don't know that. Could be like this forever." Marcel stammered. "It's so fucking cold!"

"Marcel stop! You're stressing everyone out! Just lay down and try to sleep." Tyler snapped. He glanced over at Lui, thinking he must have gone to sleep since he hasn't spoken at all."You'll wake Lui up too if you keep yelling like that. Alert the whole damn forest out there that we are here." Marcel laid down with a loud annoyed sigh, pulling his sleeping bag around himself tightly.

"J-Just close your eyes a-and think of s-somewhere. T-Think of s-somewhere w-warm and s-safe." Evan whispered. Lui, laying beside Tyler, closed his eyes, letting himself drift. He imagined himself home, in Los Angeles, standing on the warm beach. He heard the waves crash onto the shore and felt the sun warmed sand under his feet. He felt safe, like he could finally rest. Most of all, he finally felt warm.

"Is Lui still asleep?" Brian asked, stirring the pot of oatmeal hung over the fire. The morning had dawned, the storm having passed. The snow covered most of the tent which had forced them to dig a way out. They found firewood in the form of branches that had been knocked down during the storm, pine needles littering the snow. Brian, Marcel, Evan and Tyler sat around the fire, warming their hands and rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

"Evan go check on him. Wake him up so he can have something to eat." Tyler yawned, hugging himself. Evan nodded, getting up. He opened the tent flap, seeing Lui asleep by the wall of the tent which hung low from the weight of the snow that covered it. Evan crawled over to him, gently shaking his shoulder through the thin sleeping bag that was icy cold to the touch.

"L-Lui? L-Lui wake up. B-Brian is making b-breakfast." Evan whispered gently, his stutter making him stop a few times to try to say the words right. Lui didn't respond, feeling stiff as Evan tried to shake him awake. "L-Lui. W-Wake up." He rolled Lui over and his hands instantly went to his mouth to stop the scream. Lui's eyes stared up at the roof of the tent yet saw nothing, the life completely gone from them. His lips and fingers were blue, his skin having gone pale, all life and colour frozen out of him. "Lui!" Evan screamed. "Lui! No!" Evan couldn't stop himself from falling over his friend, holding him close. "L-Lui...No...No..."

"Evan?" Tyler was there, pulling Evan away from Lui. Evan tried to get back to Lui, looking desperately for any sign of life, the slightest movement that he was alive, anything.

"N-No! N-No!" Evan cried as Brian pulled him from the tent. Evan fell to his knees by the fire, choking on his sobs.

"Evan what is it?" Marcel asked quietly, having stood up when he heard Evan scream.

"H-He's dead! H-He's dead!" Evan yelled, his hand pressed over the owl patch. "H-He's dead!"


	7. Chapter 7

The ground was frozen solid and the snow was too deep to dig through. They couldn't bury Lui's body so they were forced to burn it, spending the day searching for fallen branches from the storm. As the sky got dark, they watched it burn but found not warmth in it.

Evan stayed silent the whole day, thinking that it was his fault. He could have checked to see if Lui was okay during the night. He should have wondered why Lui seemed to not care about himself, should have seen the signs of what was happening. The fact he no longer shivered, and his poor decisions. Evan wanted to hit himself, settling for holding the bruise left by Tyler on his left wrist hard enough to bring more tears to his eyes.

"It's not fair." Brian said quietly, watching the sparks fly into the sky. "Lui didn't deserve this. No one deserves to die like that." Evan wanted him to stop talking. "If it gets any colder, anyone of us could be next. This cold is gonna kill us all."

"Or we get fucking shot. Some people still believe the war is going on not caring bout Drop Day. So if we can get going soon that'd be great. This fire is a damn beacon." Marcel snapped. "We're gonna get Revolters and enemy soldiers on us."

"Hey you wanna have some fucking respect?" Tyler yelled. "Lui is dead! It could be your body we're burning right now and if you keep talking shit like that, it's going to be!"

"What? You want me to write his damn eulogy? I hardly knew the kid!" Marcel snapped.

"You can still at least give him a moment of silence at least." Tyler snarled.

"It's okay Wildcat. You can cry. No one here is gonna laugh at you to your face." Marcel muttered. Tyler responded with a harsh punch to Marvel's jaw, knocking him down to the snow.

"Fuck you! Fuck you!" Tyler yelled, punching him repeatedly. Marcel threw him off, kicking him back.

"S-Shut u-up!" The yell startled them, making them all freeze. Evan's right hand was clenched tightly into a fist, his left hand pressed over the owl patch. "J-Just shut up! S-Shut up!" Evan yelled. "S-Shut up..."

"Shut up. Just for a second...Jonathan? What's going on?" Evan had yawned. He could faintly hear the sounds of bombs in the distance and gunfire, a constant at Home Base. It was just forty eight hours till Evan was to be deployed, heading off towards the West Coast and the refugee camp that was being set up there. Jonathan had snuck into the Peacekeeper tent, climbing up on to Evan's bunk and shook him awake, talking excitedly.

"I got an idea. Where's your jacket?" Jonathan whispered, using a flashlight to see as he opened his pack. He pulled out a sewing kit, smiling as Evan threw him his jacket that had been hanging off his bunk. "I know it's not allowed to put stuff other than what the military gives us on our uniforms but I wanna do something. I missed your birthday cause of training but I want to give you something!" Jonathan found a spot under the lapel of Evan's jacket. "You've heard of owls being these protective symbols right? Well we're going off to fucking war and even though you're a Peacekeeper, I want you to be able to go home after this." Jonathan used the gold thread to create an outline, the thread sparkling in the light.

"So you're gonna sew an owl onto my jacket as a way to protect me?" Evan asked, laughing quietly at the idea. "That's silly, Jonathan. I mean...I'm not even going off to the Front like you are. I appreciate it...I just don't know if I believe that it'll help me."

"It's the thought that counts, Evan. Just please...Let me do this." Jonathan smiled. Evan sighed but smiled anyways. He watched Jonathan sow, the thread and needle glimmering in the light. It took him most of the night, the two sitting in silence mostly. They didn't have much to say, knowing that in a few hours they would have to say goodbye.

"Jonathan. Are you scared?" Evan whispered quietly, breaking the silence.

"I'd be stupid if I wasn't. I'd be more scared to be you though. Having no idea really what's going out there. Only really seeing the injuries and the people who get uprooted by this mess. You need to be so brave. I couldn't be that brave." Jonathan said quietly, keeping his eyes on the thread, sowing the great big eyes of the owl. Even though they were only small now, Evan could already feel as though those eyes were watching him.

"You could." Evan laughed. "You're 'delirious' after all. Who could stop you? You always said 'no one could stop you cause you are the one and only happened to that?" He smiled at the memory of Jonathan yelling his nickname and challenging everyone. He had told Evan that when he gets his plane, he was going to paint it on to the side in bright blue paint.

"I don't know really...Maybe it was when the war started but on that day we didn't even care. We ordered pizzas and laughed about stupid youtube videos. Maybe it was when I found out that we got thrown into the war too and that it'd be a long time. Maybe it is still there and I've just forgotten about it." Jonathan smiled slightly.

"Well remember it. It'll keep you alive." Evan said sternly. Jonathan looked up from his work to meet Evan's gaze. "Remember it and I'll keep your silly patch."

"Okay. I'll remember it."

Evan didn't care what Marcel said about being seen. When the others had started to pack up, Evan pulled the flares out of his pack, pushing past Brian and Tyler and walked back to where they had burned Lui's body, the flare gun tight in his hand. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that he had to shoot and kill other people. It wasn't fair that he had to watch Luke die and it wasn't fair that every sentence he said now stuttered and shook with the shock of what he had seen and done. It wasn't fair that Tyler had to leave Jonathan behind and it wasn't fair that Lui had died.

Evan stopped for a moment in the snow, putting his hand over his face, a sob shaking his shoulders. With a deep sigh, he forced himself to keep walking, stopping when he saw the ashes on the snow, only a few glowing embers remaining.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Lui. I-I'm sorry this happened to you. A-All you needed was one more blanket...S-Someone to be closer to you...A-And you would have made it. I-It's not fair and I'm s-sorry." Evan stopped, rubbing the tears away as he looked up at the dark sky and the falling snow. "I-I f-fucking hate snow." Evan muttered, loading the flare. He aimed it towards the sky, pulling the trigger and watched it explode into red sparks and smoke. Evan doubted that anyone would see it but he didn't care. It wasn't for them. It was for Lui. Evan loaded another flare and shot it into the sky, the sparks exploding with a loud bang that echoed in Evan's ears.

"Hey!" Evan jumped, turning and aimed the yellow flare gun at Tyler who quickly put his hands up. Evan relaxed, looking back up at the falling sparks and red smoke as he lowered the flare gun. "I don't know if I trust you with guns anymore. That's the second time you've pointed one at me." Tyler said quietly, looking up at the flare. "That flare for Lui?" He glanced at Evan who nodded, rubbing the tears from his eyes. "Hey...Hey it's okay, Evan. It's not your fault." Tyler pulled Evan into a hug, patting the back of his head. "It's not your fault. It's those bastards who dropped those bombs. Don't you dare blame yourself." Tyler said softly. Evan nodded, leaning against him. "We gotta keep going north, Owl boy. Lui told us to go, told us to go that train so that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna get to that train and we're put Lui's name on it. That's Lui's train and we gotta get there first."

"Y-Yeah…" Evan nodded, moving away from the hug. Tyler smiled, playfully punching his shoulder.

They met back up with Brian and Marcel who had seen the flares go off, watching them spark and smoke. They didn't question it, seeing the tear stains on Evan's face and the ashes on his boots. No longer were their walks full of laughter. Snow was not balled into hands and thrown. It instead crunched under their feet, breaking the silence as the four marched through the woods. They split up what was in Lui's pack, his gun hanging off Evan's back, hitting his side as a constant reminder. It was no longer his own words to keep him going but the steady beat of the gun hitting his side with every step. Tyler and Marcel would lead, or rather one would lead and the other would walk faster. They didn't verbally fight, knowing that it would just upset Evan like it had before. Evan had yelled at them to shut up till his voice had gone hoarse and scratched his throat. Yet the tension alone still bothered Evan and just like the gun it was a reminder that they were still not on the same side.

When they stopped for the night, they set up their tent and a campfire. They hardly spoke, drinking to Lui's name with their hot chocolate. When they decided to call it for the night, they huddled closer than they had before, fearful that what happened to Lui might happen to them. They found it hard to fall asleep, too much going through their minds so they would turn to the person next to them and see if they were still alive, warm and breathing. Tyler shook Evan out of his doze several times with a hushed "Are you okay?" And Evan would nod but every time he tried to fall asleep he would dream of the PeaceKeepers camp and be jolted awake again.

The next day, they stumbled upon another camp that had been abandoned, blood on the snow and golden bullet shells glinting in the light. Evan tried not to look at the blood and the bodies, instead looking through what was left of the camp. The tent was riddled with bullet holes, the blankets inside wet from the snow that blown in. He found a journal in one of the packs, reading through the inked words as Marcel threw a handle of bullet shells at Tyler for some remark he made, the sound of clinking metal filling Evan's ears. They gathered what they could before heading out again, now having more food and ammo mostly.

"Hey Vanoss you want some?" Marcel asked with a hiccup, offering him the bottle of the red wine he had found at the camp. Evan shook his head while Tyler grabbed the bottle, taking a swing from it. "Did you ask?" Marcel snapped, grabbing the bottle back. Some of it spilled out, dropping onto the snow leaving stains like blood. Evan caught up to Brian, glancing back over his shoulder at Marcel and Tyler who seemed completely unaffected by what they had seen.

"B-Brian?" Evan looked up at him but got no response. "T-Terroriser?" The blonde turned his head, looking down at Evan. "W-W-What happened b-b-back there? A-A-At that c-c-camp?"

"Someone lost it. The cold can get to you in other ways than just what it did to Lui. Someone said 'fuck it. I ain't dealing with this cold anymore.'" Brian shivered at the thought of it, keeping his eyes ahead. "Not trying to scare you, Vanoss but we gotta be on the lookout for those things too. Especially with those two. Wildcat and Marcel seem like the kind of guys who aren't gonna let their feelings get to them till it's too late." Evan glanced back at them, staying silent as he looked away. "Hey I'm sorry about Lui. You seemed pretty close to him." Brian said after a few minutes of silence between them, wanting to change the topic.

"I-I only k-knew him for a f-few days actually." Evan said quietly. "B-But I-I w-would have done the s-same f-for you or T-Tyler." Brian didn't know what to say so he stayed quiet. It was then that Evan heard it.

A dull roar, a crashing. He stopped, looking straight ahead through the trees. He hadn't noticed till now the light wind and the smell of salt in the air. "I-It's the o-ocean…" Evan breathed before breaking into a run. Brian sprinted after him, Tyler and Marcel close behind. He got out of the treeline, almost slipping when he reached the hill that sloped down to the beach. Evan stumbled down the hill, kicking up the snow as he ran towards the beach. He came to a stop when he saw the waves crashing onto the white snowy shore, the ice that formed near the beach cracking and splintering with every angry wave that crashed into it. Yet it wasn't as serene as he thought it would be. The water was dark grey, the waves big and white capped, hitting the beach and sending up spray as waves rolled over rocks. The beach was covered in scrap metal, bodies and bullets. Planes had crashed onto the beach, leaving craters in the sand and washed up wrecks of ships stood hollowed out as the wind whistled through them. A few life boats were washed up on the shore as well, meaning that just off the coast, more ships had sunk.

"Oh my god…" Tyler breathed. Evan looked back him, noticing him staring at something. He followed his gaze to a crashed plane, a flash of blue on the side catching his attention. "Oh my god no…" Tyler started running towards the plane and Evan was close behind him.

"Wildcat! Tyler!" Brian yelled, running after them. "Vanoss! Wait up!" They didn't stop till they got to the plane. Tyler dropped to his knees, scraping the snow and sand off the side of the plane to reveal the word 'Delirious' painted in blue on the metal. Evan stared at the paint, remembering what Jonathan had said with a bright smile. Now Evan felt sick, fearing what he was going to find in the plane.

"Y-You said you l-left him b-behind…" Evan stammered.

"I did." Tyler pressed his hand against the blue paint, looking up at Evan as he climbed onto the wing, moving carefully over the icy surface to the door. He pulled it open, seeing the empty cockpit, the pilot's chair stained with blood. Evan looked away, fighting the urge to be sick. Taking a deep breath, he sat down in the seat, looking around the inside of the plane for any sign that Jonathan was there. His eyes landed on a picture tucked into the side of the control panel. At first he didn't recognize the three people in the picture before it dawned on him that it was Jonathan, Brock and himself with smiles that Evan didn't know anymore. He reached up with shaking hands, taking the picture slowly. He held it close, hearing Tyler climb onto the plane behind him.

"H-He's not here." Evan called out as Tyler got to the hatch. "H-He's gone."

"Can't be far. He got wounded. He couldn't have gone far." Tyler said, sliding down the side of the plane. It scared Evan to be sitting in this seat where Jonathan had flown this plane, shot others down as if it was one of the video games he had played with Evan before. Jonathan was okay with it meant to shoot another down but Evan could still hardly bare it. He quickly got out of the seat, holding onto the picture with one hand, letting Tyler help him down from the plane with the other. "Don't worry, Owl Boy. He's fine." Tyler said, patting his back. Evan nodded, tucking the picture into his pocket.

"We should set up camp. It's starting to get dark." Brian said from a little ways away. They set up their camp just inside the treeline, the cold sea wind pulling at the tent as they put it up. They threw their sleeping bags and blankets into the tent, Evan claiming to be too exhausted to want to do anything else but sleep for a little bit and they didn't bother him when he climbed into the tent and zipped it up behind him.

Marcel and Brian got a fire going, having to protect it from the breeze that came off the ocean. Tyler's mind kept going back to the crashed plane on the beach, wondering how Jonathan could have gotten there and if he survived or not.

"I'm gonna go find some more firewood." Tyler said, brushing the snow off his pants as he got up, grabbing his gun. He walked back to the beach, walking along the tree line. The snow crunched under his feet, his eyes scanning the beach for any movement of driftwood. He tried not to look at Jonathan's plane as he passed it, continuing down the beach. He walked back into the trees, finding a few fallen branches that he gathered up. The snapping of a twig made him jump, turning to look back behind him but saw no one behind him. He shrugged it off, picking up another branch.

A sudden weight dropped onto Tyler, legs wrapping around his neck that threw him to the ground. Tyler yelled, using one of the branches to hit the attacker hard in the face. The branch broke, wood splintering around the attacker's face. He cried out, putting his hands over his face as he fell off Tyler to the snow. Tyler pinned him down to the snow, punching him hard enough to blacken his eye. Tyler gripped his collar tightly, seeing that he wore an Allied Navy soldier's jacket, a pilot's jacket on over top.

"Who did you kill to get this jacket huh?" Tyler yelled, punching him again.

"I didn't...I didn't…" The soldier stammered. Tyler pulled him to his feet, aiming his gun at him.

"Walk. Now." Tyler snapped, pushing back in the direction of the camp. The soldier held his hands up, walking shakily. He only had a small handgun, his pack small with what seemed like only the essentials that he needed to survive which made Tyler wonder why he had tried to attack him in the first place. When they got back to the camp, Brian and Marcel stood up, hands going to their guns.

"Who is this fucker? Enemy soldier? Did you kill a pilot and a navy guy for those jackets?" Marcel snapped, pushing the soldier.

"No...No! I didn't...I swear! I'm Allied!" The soldier cried. "I'm Allied!"

"Who did you kill boy?" Tyler yelled again, kicking the soldier's legs out from under him and forced him to his knees.

"Did you shoot em and take their jackets when they died or did you find while they were dying and took them, just leaving them there to die?" Marcel questioned, loading his gun.

"No! I-I found it! One is mine!" The soldier cried, looking up at them with pleading eyes. Tyler looked up at the sound of the tent zipper opening. The yelling must have woken Evan who rubbed his eyes as he got out of the tent, standing up. His eyes went wide when his eyes landed on the soldier, not sure of what to do or say. The soldier stared back at Evan with the same look of disbelief.

"B-Brock?"


	8. Chapter 8

It had been the sound of sirens that woke Brock from his sleep. He had sat up on his bunk, looking around the dark hall full of other bunks. The few soldiers like Brock that had been sleeping were woken up as well, getting dressed and running to their stations. The sound of a low rumble that shook the whole ship startled Brock. He jumped down from his bunk, pulling on his shoes and jacket over the uniform he had slept in. It was freezing cold, the ship feeling icy to the touch ever since Drop Day.

"It's an airstrike! Those mothefuckers still wanna fight after Drop!" A sailor told Brock as he made it to the hallway.

"Do we have enough ammo to fight back?" Brock cried. They had been on their way to one of the allied ports when the bombs dropped. They dropped the anchor and waited on orders that never came. So the ship stayed still, surrounded by dark waves and the coast just barely visible through the fog and the snow.

"Doubt it! I heard people are just jumping overboard than trying to fight!" Another rumble, a powerful explosion rocked the ship, throwing Brock and the soldier against the wall.

"Water's getting in the ship! It's gonna sink!" Brock heard soldiers yelling and a loud bang filled his ears as the ships guns went off, trying to hit the planes that circled the ship. Brock looked down at the soldier beside him to find that he had been knocked out by the impact of hitting the wall, blood matting his hair.

"Hey come on! You gotta get up! The ship's gonna go down and we gotta get out of here!" Brock shook the soldier but it was no use. Brock got back up to his feet, running back into the hall where the soldiers slept. He grabbed his pack, stuffing what he could into and grabbed his handgun. He made his way back down the hallway which slanted to the right as the ship started to sink, pulling himself up the steep stairs to the deck.

An explosion threw him back down, reaching to grab onto the railing to stop himself from falling to the metal hallway below. The deck was a mess of bodies and fire, the soldiers taking cover as the planes flew close to the ship in a flurry of machine gun fire. Brock watched as a few of the soldiers panicked and threw themselves overboard, rather taking their chances with the freezing ocean then deal with the planes that circled around and flew back at the plane, the sound of missiles and the smoke overwhelming. Brock stayed low as he ran down the deck, reaching the lifeboats and the crowd of soldiers that had gathered there.

"Get down!" A shout rang through the air as a missile flew through the air and collided with the control tower of the ship, flames, smoke and bits of burning metal flying through the air, the soldiers ducking where they could to avoid being hit the smoking metal. Brock watched a piece metal sail through the air and collide with one of the soldiers with a spray of blood that threw him over the railing. Brock looked away, putting his hand over his mouth as he felt sick

"There's only one fucking boat!" A soldier yelled when the smoke started to clear.

"Then we gotta stay and fight!" One cried out, the soldiers ducking again as a plane flew close to the ship.

"Those mother fuckers are gonna kill us all if we stay here!" Another yelled. There was a sudden mad scramble towards the lifeboat, pushing Brock forward. He gripped the railing tightly, watching the soldiers climb into the lifeboat, lowering it down the water as the ship began to lean even more with the weight of the water that filled it. Taking a deep breath, Brock climbed over the railing and dropped to the boat, the air knocked out of him as he hit the hard metal bottom of the lifeboat.

He couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly guilty as the boat pulled away from the sinking ship, leaving the remaining soldiers behind. Some still jumped off the sinking ship and swam towards the lifeboat, their lips and fingers blue and trembling by the time they were able to pull themselves into the boat. The ones that remained ran to the guns, not going to let their last moments be helpless. One of the ship's machines guns took down one of the planes, the engine exploding in a burst of orange flames and black smoke. The plane plummeted to the ocean sending up a spray of salty water as it crashed into the waves.

There was nothing the soldiers on the lifeboat could do now but watch their ship that had been their home for years sink below the angry dark waves, the planes circling overhead like vultures. They couldn't fire a distress signal in the form of a flare for fear of being spotted by the planes.

Brock leaned against the side of the boat, sitting on the floor between the benches. The only sound was the waves lapping against the side of the boat and the paddles in the water. A few of the soldiers cried, their quite gasps and sobs heard over the waves. Brock raised his right hand to his lapel, pulling the thick fabric back to place his hand over the owl patch swon there by Jonathan the night after Evan was deployed. He remembered that night well, most of it spent with tears in his eyes because he didn't want to say goodbye and knew he would have to say again when he left Jonathan. All three of them had the patch, the golden feathers and eyes hidden from view under their lapels from their officers, but whenever Brock had heard the sirens go off and heard the distant roar of planes carrying their bombs, his hand had gone to the patch, grounding himself and believing that he would be okay. Just like Jonathan and Evan had said.

As the boat neared the beach, Brock could see the occasional smaller ship washed ashore and crashed planes that had been trying to make it to a safe place to land but were unable to find such a place. The fog was thick and snow fell gently, landing on Brock's uniform and in his hair, sending shivers down his back.

Once on the beach, no one knew what to do. Some wanted to stay while others wanted to go find help, knowing that an allied peacekeeper's camp was just up the beach at a small town. Something told Brock that there wasn't a camp up there anymore. He thought about Evan, wondering if he was still alive and what might be happening to him. He knew Evan was strong. He was a happy, sweet and caring person who always put others before himself. He was brave when it was the darkest of times, finding something to give him hope.

"Brock! We're gonna head up the beach to the Peacekeepers camp. You staying or going?" A soldier asked, snapping Brock out of his thoughts.

"I'll stay...I'll stay here. Maybe another ship will come by." Brock said hopefully.

"Doubt it. We'll be back in a few days with more supplies and hopefully a better idea of what's going on. Stay safe." The soldier said as he walked away. Brock stayed behind with a few other soldiers but they didn't want to wait. They had heard rumours about what had happened after Drop Day and they were keen to wait out in the open. So they left Brock on the beach, heading into the woods with their guns and packs, telling him not to expect to see them again.

Alone, scared and cold, Brock searched the crashed planes, finding a tin box of cookies in one and a couple of blankets. In another he found more bullets but no guns. The next plane he recognized. He knew it very well, having seen it on a carrier ship was he was stationed on for a little bit. He had even helped paint the bright blue name on the side. He knelt down with shaking legs, brushing the snow and ice off the side of the plane to see the word 'Delirious'. Brock leaned his forehead against the cold metal, tears falling from his eyes for the first time in a while. It was all he wanted to do, letting out all the pain, sadness and anger he had lept in since this started. He wanted his friends back and now they seemed so far out of reach. For all he knew, they could be dead. The thought brought forced more sobs that tore through his throat and racked his shoulders. Brock sat back on the snow, closing his eyes tightly as he pressed his hand against the cold side of the plane. He stayed there for a long time, crying till he couldn't anymore, his eyes dry and his cheeks stained from the tears.

Slowly and with sore arms, Brock pulled himself up onto the wing of Jonathan's plane, crawling on his hands and knees over the icy surface to the hatch. He pulled it open, peering down inside the plane at the empty pilot's seat. No one was there. Brock pulled himself down into the seat, pulling the hatch closed over him. Hanging off the seat was Jonathan's jacket, the bright medals and patches issued by the military covering the dark blue fabric. He wrapped Jonathan's jacket around himself, taking the tin box of cookies out of his pack and nibbled on one as he looked up at the dark sky through the thick glass roof of the door. He quietly prayed that Jonathan and Evan were okay, unaware of the large bloodstain on the seat he had curled up on and the hole on Jonathan's coat where the owl patch had once been.

The group of soldiers that had gone to the Peacekeepers camp didn't come back. Brock was left on his own, spending a lot of time curled up in Jonathan's plane, writing in his journal about what he had been through, or sleeping. He was able to find more food in some of the washed up boats and crashed planes, finding firewood in the woods up the hill from the beach. At night, he would make a fire near the plane, hoping that the light would signal the soldiers who left him and guide them back but it never did. He would kick snow over the flames when he got too tired and climb back into the plane. One night he found the photo that had been tucked into Jonathan's jacket pocket when it fell out as he was pulling it over himself. He smiled when he saw it, seeing himself, Evan and Jonathan smiling back. Brock tucked it into the control panel in front of him, keeping his eyes on it as he drifted off to sleep.

Brock held an armful of branches as he walked, heading back through the woods towards the plane. It had been four days since his ship had sunk, the sound of sirens and planes and guns still echoing in his mind. He was lost in his thoughts, nearing the edge of the treeline when he heard yelling over the sound of the waves.

"Vanoss! Wait up!" A muffled cry carried over the wind. Brock dropped the wood, running towards the beach. He came to a stop when he saw four people standing by Jonathan's plane. He reached into his pack, pulling out the handgun. It would be useless though, seeing the big guns that the four men carried. He watched as one of them climbed the wing and opened the hatch, peering inside. Brock was grateful then that he had brought his pack with him that day and that it had been cold enough that he needed to wear Jonathan's coat as well, fearing that he wouldn't be able to go back to the plane. One of the men turned to look at the trees, not seeing Brock who panicked. He pulled himself up into the nearest tree, climbing the branches till he was high enough that he wouldn't be seen from the ground but could still see the men by the plane. The one that had climbed on to the plane was sitting in the pilot's seat, the others standing around it.

"...not here." Brock heard one call out. The voice sounded familiar. It brought back memories of warm summer days spent floating down a river or sleeping on the living room floor surrounded by his friends. Brock pushed the thought away, telling himself that this couldn't be Evan.

Brock clung to the trunk of the tree, leaning his head against his arms and praying that the men would leave soon and not come back just like the soldiers that had left for the camp. Closing his eyes, Brock could still hear their voices though couldn't pick out what they were saying.

The sound of footsteps woke Brock who hadn't realised that he had dozed off, sitting against against the tree trunk. A thin layer of snow had covered him in a cold blanket, a shiver running through him as it fell down the back of his collar. He brushed it off, looking back at the plane to see that the men had left. He sighed in relief, starting to get up to climb down.

Looking down, Brock went completely still when he saw the soldier walking through the snow, picking up the wood that Brock had dropped. He seemed to be deep in thought, walking below Brock's tree. Brock managed to stand up, his hand slipping on the branch, snapping a twig off. The soldier below him stopped, looking around as he tensed. Brock could see the gun hanging off his back, kicking himself for bringing a tiny useless handgun. He stared down at the soldier, leaning forward to see the soldier more clearly. His hand slipped again but this time he couldn't stop himself.

"Fuck…" Brock grabbed at the branch as he fell, unable to stop himself as he crashed through the branches, landing on the soldier who let out a cry of shock as Brock fell on him. They fell to hard packed snow, both struggling to get away from each other. The soldier swung the branches in his hands at Brock who cried out as they snapped when they hit him, knocking him back onto the snow. Brock was dazed, trying to fight back. Another hit almost knocked him out, gripping onto the soldier's arms as he struggled to push him off.

"Who did you kill to get this jacket huh?" The soldier yelled, gripping Brock's collar and hit him again. Brock realised he must have thought he was an enemy soldier, raising his hands in a surrender.

"I didn't….I didn't…" Brock stammered, trying to tell him that he hadn't killed anyone. The soldier dragged him to his feet by his collar as if he weight nothing at all. Brock gasped for air when he let go, pushing him harshly.

"Walk. Now." The soldier ordered, aiming his gun at Brock. He panicked, putting his hands up in a surrender, quickly taking a step. The soldier pushed him forward through the trees, walking down the beach past Jonathan's plane. He struggled to keep his breathing steady and not let fear get the best of him. The soldier didn't say anything, pushing him occasionally when he slowed dowb. Brock stumbled to a stop when they got a camp, two other soldiers sitting by a campfire. Not far from the fire, a dark green military tent was erected, the thick fabric swaying in the ocean breeze. Brock's eyes went wide when the two soldiers stood up, eyes on Brock and hands on their guns.

"Who is this fucker? An enemy soldier? Did you kill a pilot and a navy guy for those jackets?" One of the soldiers demanded, shoving Brock. He stammered, trying to find the words to defend himself.

"No! No! I didn't! I swear! I'm Allied!" Brock cried. "I'm Allied!" The soldiers didn't believe him. A sharp kick to the back of his knees forced him to the ground.

"Who did you kill boy?" The first soldier yelled.

"Did you shoot em and take their jackets? Or did you find them while they dying and took them and just left them there to die?" The second yelled, getting close to Brock who leaned away.

"No! I found it! One is mine!" Brock cried, holding up his hands in surrender. The sound of the tent opening took the attention off Brock, his gaze going to the soldier who walked out of it. His right arm had gauze wrapped it and the way his left hand seemed to go to the guaze as he stepped out seemed out of habit, as if he had done it for so long that even though the bleeding stopped physically, mentally he still believed there was blood. He looked tired, his black hair messy and his cheeks were starting to turn red from the cold. Brock noticed the red and white stripes on the soldier's sleeves, identifying him as a Peacekeeper. Then his eyes went up to the upturned lapels of his coat, telling himself that it wouldn't be there, that there was no way this tramatized, tired soldier could be his friend. Yet there it was, the golden owl stareing back at Brock with it's yellow eyes that had faded. The once bright feathers were stained with specks of blood, the tips having gone a shade of red. The Peacekeeper stared at Brock who stared back at him, not believing that this was happening. This Peacekeeper did not look like the happy, sweet and caring friend he remembered from warm summer days lazily floating down the river. He looked tired, scared and angry, as if he had been through things that had turned the sweet happiness into bitter despair.

"B-Brock?" Evan stuttered. He took a small step towards him, stopped by the third soldier. "B-Brock." He repeated with more certainty this time. He reached towards him to help him up but the soldier next to him grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

"Hang on Vanoss. You don't know for sure this who you think it is." The longer haired blonde cautioned. The name he called Evan sounded strange and wrong. It made it seem as if Evan was someone completely new, someone that Brock had never met before. Evan pushed the soldier back, grabbing Brock's lapel. He pushed the first jacket aside, and pulled back the lapel of his navy jacket to reveal the golden owl patch that was brighter than Evan's faded, bloody one.

"Evan..." Brock could see the tears well up in Evan's eyes as he fell to his knees in front of Brock as he said his name, pulling him into a tight hug. Brock hugged back, pulling him close. Brock didn't care about the other three soldiers, closing his eyes tightly as he held his friend. Evan was the first to let go after a few moments, helping Brock to his feet. Evan looked up at him, seeing the cuts on his face and neck.

"W-W-We should t-take c-care of t-that." Evan stuttered, his voice shaking.

"Wait. Evan who is this?" The first soldier demanded. "Is this the guy you mentioned before?"

"My name is Brock. I served with the Navy." Brock turned to the first soldier, staying close to Evan. The soldier glanced down at the owl patch on Brock's jacket, then went to Evan's. "We have the same one. A gift from a friend."

"I know." The soldier said quietly which surprised him. "My name is Tyler. You can call me Wildcat if you want." Tyler said, moving away from Brock. "That's Brian and Marcel." Tyler pointed to the other two soldiers who finally lowered their guns.

"B-Brock." Brock hurried over to Evan, following him into the tent. He couldn't stand inside, sitting down on the nest of sleeping bags and pillows that Evan had obviously made. It was a habit of his when he felt upset or scared, making a nest of blankets to hide in. He did it when Brock and Jonathan had stayed at his house back when the war started, huddled on the living room floor. He had watched him make one once, pulling the blankets around himself before nestling down into the pile, pulling once over himself so that only the tips of his black hair could be seen sticking out. Brock had thought it was funny at the time, not realising it was a coping method.

Looking over the mess of sleeping bags, Brock's eyes landed on the photo tucked into one of the sleeping bags.

"So you found Jonathan's plane." Brock said quietly as Evan got a first aid kit out from one of the packs. Evan paused, looking down at the photo then back up to Brock. "I've been hiding out there for the past few days. This is his jacket by the way." Brock took the pilot jacket off, handing it to Evan who took it with shaking hands. He found the hole under the lapel where the owl patch should have been, running his hand over the torn fabric. "I haven't found him though."

"T-Tyler...H-He was i-in the s-same r-regiment as J-Jonathan. H-He said s-something h-happened to him b-but he c-could s-still be a-alive." Evan's stutter unnerved Brock. It made him sad, knowing that Evan had seen something that had shocked him so much he could no longer talk without stumbling over his words. It scared him too, knowing that something had the power to do that. He could see the frustration as he tried to speak, pausing between words and the anger that flashed across his face when he stuttered over a word he hoped he wouldn't. Brock was quiet after that as Evan cleaned the cuts and pulled the splinters out.

"Evan...Why did that one soldier call you 'Vanoss'?" Brock asked, breaking the silence.

"I-It's a s-soldier n-name." Evan smiled. "M-My friend L..." Evan's smile broke, tears in his eyes again. Brock watched him try to regain his composure, taking a deep breath. "M-My f-friend L-Lui g-gave i-it to m-me." Evan started to cry, hiding his face in his hands. "I-I'm s-sorry...I-I'm fine." Brock pulled Evan into a hug, letting him lean against him.

"What happened to you, Evan?" Brock wondered aloud, stroking his hair gently. He wasn't expecting Evan to have heard him, suddenly moving away from the hug. It took him a long time, but Evan told him everything. Told him about the attack on the Peacekeeper's camp and what he had seen and done, Tyler saving his life and about meeting Lui. He told him about the Revolters, how they were captured and their escape. He told him about Brian and Marcel and about the train and Lui's death. A few times, Evan would trail off, his eyes on the palms of his hands as if seeing something that only he saw. Brock took his hands at one point when he noticed them shaking, holding on to his hands tightly even after the shaking became nothing more then a little tremble. The more Evan talked, the more the words became a struggle to get out. He would pause for up to several minutes, the sound of the campfire and the quiet voices of Tyler, Brian and Marcel breaking the silence as Evan would try to find the words to explain the horrors he had seen.

"N-Now…" Evan paused, closing his eyes. "N-Now I-I c-can't s-stop seeing i-it. I-I k-keep s-seeing the b-blood o-on my h-hands and I-I see t-the p-people I-I killed and L-Luke and L-Lui. T-They w-won't g-go a-away." Brock watched Evan pulled his left hand away, rubbing at the tears that fell from his eyes. Suddenly Evan's sobs turned to laughter, looking up at Brock with a wide smile, tears streaming from his eyes. "I-I'm s-so happy y-you're here. I-I'm s-so h-happy." Evan cried, pulling Brock into a hug. Brock didn't know what to do except hug back, the sudden change in Evan's emotions startling him. What he had told Brock scared him, not even able to imagine what it must have been like to see those Peacekeepers die, to have almost died himself and take another's life.

"I am too, Evan." Brock said quietly, stroking his hair. "I am too…"

It took some convincing but Evan managed to convince Brian, Tyler and Marcel to let Brock join them. Evan refused to go anywhere without Brock and when he told the three that, Tyler had tensed up. Evan knew that Tyler wouldn't leave him behind so he agreed which made Brian and Marcel agree. As an offering of thanks, Brock gave them his tin box of cookies. They had been hesitant at first, but soon they had eaten what was left of the cookies, taking handfuls of them at a time. They hadn't realised how much they missed sweets.

The next morning, they packed up their camp and started heading up the beach. Evan stopped when they got to Jonathan's plane, placing his hand against the side of it.

"Maybe we should burn it." Brock suggested. Tyler stood next to Evan who looked at Brock with an offended look as if Brock had suggested something sacrilegious.

"Fuck no!" Tyler snapped. "We'll leave it. Someone might take shelter in it if they find it. We just can't burn it." He said as Evan climbed up onto the wing, pulling open the hatch. "Evan what are you doing?" Evan didn't answer, sitting down in the pilot's seat. He pulled the picture out of his pocket, smiling sadly. He remembered that day, the warmth of the sun and the sound the river made as the water flowed. Yet as much as he tried, there were somethings he couldn't remember, slipping away from him. As much as he tried, he couldn't remember what Jonathan's laugh sounded like.

"I-I saying g-goodbye." Evan said quietly, answering Tyler's question. He put the picture back where he had found it, tucked safely into the control panel. He stayed there for a moment longer before getting back out again, closing the hatch and jumped down from the plane, hanging onto Tyler's arm as he did so he wouldn't fall to the snow as he landed. "L-Let's go."

They continued up the beach, forcing themselves not to look back at the plane. Evan found himself staying close to Brock and Tyler, reaching out for them when he slipped on the icy snow and they could catch him.

In the distance, in the valley between the mountains that lead down to the ocean, they could faintly see the town, smoke drifting up to the sky from the few still burning buildings.

"That's a Peacekeepers camp. A group of the people I was with on my ship went there. We could meet up with them. Get more supplies." Brock suggested.

"How can we trust them?" Marcel asked, glancing back at him.

"Their a part of my regiment. I know them." Brock insisted.

"No you don't. You knew who they were before Drop Day like you knew who Vanoss was before Drop Day but you don't know them now. Drop Day made everyone new and wait till you see what these people are capable of doing to each other." Brian said darkly. Brock felt chills go through him, telling himself it was just from the cold wind. He glanced at Evan who kept his eyes down. There were a lot of things about him that were different, but some were still the same. They had to be.

They kept walking, trudging through the snow that got deeper the farther up the beach they went. They walked past more crashed planes, as well abandoned army vehicles, bullets littering the snow and there were trashed camps, open military tents billowing in the wind. The place was eerie, setting them all on edge. Evan reached for his gun, holding it in his hands tightly as he scanned the beach. Movement by the treeline caught his eye but before he could turn to aim his gun, a gunshot rang through his ears. He felt Tyler's hand drag across his shoulders, grabbing on to his arm tightly as he fell back to the snow. Evan was dragged down with him, seeing the splatter of blood on the white surface.

"T-Tyler!" Evan cried over the sound of gunfire. "Tyler!"


	9. Chapter 9

The world blurred, coming in and out focus. Tyler could faintly hear yelling and the sound of gunshots, and feel the sharp coldness of the snow beneath him. He was faintly aware of a stinging pain in his side, warm blood oozing onto the snow. He could see the blurry image of Evan over him, yelling his name but he sounded so far away. He felt hands gripping his collar and shaking him back into focus.

"Tyler!" Evan cried, the fear replacing the stutter. Evan's frantic wide eyes went down to the growing pool of blood on his side, pressing his hands against the wound.

"E-Evan...I'm okay...I'm okay." Tyler tried to tell him, reaching up to hold onto Evan's sleeve. Evan shook his head, pulling his scarf off and pressed it to the wound. "Evan…" Tyler reached up to Evan, cupping his face in his bloody hand which left a red smudge on his face. "Evan! I'm o-okay." Tyler lied, the stinging pain overwhelming. He found it hard to breathe, gasping for air as he spoke.

"Guys we gotta go! We're dead out in the open like this!" Marcel yelled, firing several rounds towards the trees where the first shot had come from. Evan looked down at Tyler with wide eyes, knowing it would hurt him more if they made him move.

"E-Evan help me up." Tyler insisted. Evan hesitated, keeping his hands pressed down on the wound. "Evan!" Tyler yelled. Evan jumped, letting go of the wound and gripped his hand tightly as he pulled him to his feet. Tyler cried out in pain, falling against the smaller Peacekeeper who managed to catch him from falling back to the snow. Evan wrapped his arm around Tyler's waist, letting him lean against him as they ran for cover behind one of the large abandoned military trucks. Brock stayed close to Evan and Tyler, seeing the blood spill between Tyler's fingers as he pressed his hand to his side. Evan kept repeating that it would be okay, letting go of Tyler to grab his gun when they got to cover. Brock's eyes went down to the gun then back up to the look on Evan's face. It was one that scared him to the bone, a look of dead calm that seemed to have come out of nowhere as he raised the gun, taking aim through the scope and fired. They all heard the cry of pain as the figure dropped to the snow.

"We have to get that town! It's got better cover there!" Brian called out as Evan lowered his gun.

"And get shot if we run?" Brock shot back. "No! Tyler is already hurting really bad! We can't make it!"

"Then you can stay here if you feel that way." Brian snapped.

"C-Come o-on B-Brock. W-We gotta move." Evan stuttered, tightening his grip on Tyler's arm. "T-Tyler...S-Stay with me..." Tyler nodded as he spoke, doing his best to stay focused and awake. He focused on Evan's voice and the cold wind. He was vaguely aware of Evan pulling him along as they followed Brian and Marcel out of cover, Brock following close behind.

"B-Brock! O-Over there! S-Shoot him!" Evan yelled suddenly. Brock looked up to see the man standing by the trees, aiming a gun their direction. "Shoot him!" Evan cried. Brian and Marcel were far ahead, giving them cover in the front. Brock stared at the man, trying to convince himself to pull the trigger as he raised the gun yet he found that he couldn't do it. Not like the others could who seemed to not think twice about it. "Brock!" A bullet narrowly missed him, hitting the snow behind him. The gunshot that followed made him jump, watching the man fall dead to the ground with a splatter of blood. Brock turned to look at Evan who had been forced to let go of Tyler and take the shot. "I-It's either you or them now. S-Sides don't f-fucking matter. T-They shot T-Tyler! T-They w-wouldn't have thought t-twice about shooting you! M-Move!" Evan ordered, wrapping his arm around Tyler. Brock stared at Evan with shock. Evan was clearly upset by what he had to do, hiding it by focusing on Tyler. Brock looked back at the treeline before following the group, his gun held tight in shaking hands.

The town wasn't far away now, the gunshots having stopped and the world had gone silent yet the five still ran as if they were being chased. Tyler started to stumble when they got to the buildings, feeling his legs start to give out under him. He clung tightly to Evan, dimly aware of the smoke hanging in the air and the bodies of soldiers that laid in the snow.

"Evan..." Tyler stammered, wanting to close his eyes and sleep.

"S-Stay w-with me. W-We've gotta f-find a place to c-camp. S-Stay a-awake, T-Tyler." Evan managed to say, keeping his voice as steady and calm as possible. Tyler nodded though he felt himself starting to slip, unable to stop himself as he fell to the snow and his eyes closed. "T-Tyler!" He heard Evan yell before the world faded away.

Evan didn't leave Tyler's side once they found a safe place to camp for the night. He tended carefully to Tyler's wound, having seen similar wounds before at the Peacekeeper's camp. It wasn't deep but he had lost a lot of blood. Evan was forced to use the last of the gauze to make sure it would stop bleeding once he got the bullet out and stitched it. He left the bottle painkillers and a water bottle out for when he woke up, tempted to take one of the painkillers himself knowing that it would make him sleep deep enough he wouldn't have nightmares again. He told himself not to though, telling himself that he had to stay awake for Tyler. He couldn't sleep till he knew that he would be okay.

The had found an abandoned house, cold drafts of air and snow coming in through the cracks between doors and windows but it was still safe and warm. They didn't have to set up their tents, throwing their sleeping bags down in the center of the living room floor over their tarp. Brock lay on his sleeping bag, journal in hand as he wrote. He would glance up at Evan every so often before returning to writing.

"Hey Brock." Brian called out from the door. "Grab your gun and pack. We're going over to the Peacekeeper's camp to get more supplies." Brock looked up at him over the top of his journal mid sentence.

"What about Evan? Are we leaving him?" Brock asked as he set his journal and pen down. He got up, pulling his pack over his shoulder. He picked up his gun, glancing at Evan who didn't react to them.

"Marcel is staying with him." Brian said, patting Evan on the back. "He's gonna be fine, Vanoss." He reassured him. Brock wrapped his sleeping bag around Evan before he left, patting his shoulder gently.

"Don't worry Ev. We'll be back soon." Brock said quietly as Evan curled his hands around the sleeping bag, pulling it closer.

Marcel was outside by the campfire they built, talking to Brian when Brock caught up to them.

"If we aren't back in an hour and a half, come searching for us. If you can't find us, just keeping going north without us." Brian explained as Brock reached them. The words made him tense up but he would rather that than letting them sit around going insane with worry or worse. "Come on Brock." Brian called out as he started to walk down the street. Brock hurried to catch up with him, glancing at Marcel as he passed.

The snow was deep, the snow reaching up to the top of front doors. The houses were dark, some of the windows shattered, and building's doors kicked open. In some places they would sink into the snow, having to pull themselves out of the thigh deep snow.

They had seen blood splattered on the snow, but they were not prepared to see the bodies as they neared the Peacekeeper's camp. Brock felt himself getting sick, seeing bodies of the soldiers he had known on his ship laying dead. At the sight of one whose front half of his head had been blown off, the blood and flesh strewn on the snow around him, Brock fell to his knees throwing up everything that had been in his stomach. Brian stopped, looking back at him as he sat up on his knees, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Hey it's okay kid." Brian said, walking back to Brock. He knelt down beside him, rubbing his back. "I'm surprised you've made it those far without spewing your guts. I remember seeing my first gory sight. Got on my shoes and some of the soldier's with me. They were pissed at me for days afterwards. You'll get used to it now don't worry." Brian laughed as he pulled Brock to his feet. Brock kept his eyes off the bodies, feeling weak as he started walking again.

"I-I don't think so...How could anyone get used to seeing that? How could anyone get used to shooting someone?" Brock said quietly as they started walking again. Brian stayed close to Brock this time, the Peacekeeper camp visible down the street.

"During the war, I saw a lot of good people die and I hated those fuckers we were fighting for what they did. It wasn't fair and I stopped thinking about it. Seeing blood and being angry had become a norm for me. Now that Drop Day has screwed everything over, it's become being just able to make it through the day. I mean it was before but not like this. It's either them or me now. Doesn't matter who or what they fought for. Don't get me wrong, it can still mess someone up. I mean have you heard Evan talk? It can be really upsetting and we can act like we're used to it but we really aren't. We're all scared. Some of us just hid of better. " They reached the camp, finding the medical tent first. In the camp were more bodies, most of them Peacekeepers. It scared Brock to think that they could easily have been Evan so he kept his eyes off them. He found gauze and more painkillers, stuffing them into his pack. Brian found needles and thread used for stitches, looking over the few bodies for weapons and more bullets. In a few of the other tents, Brock found some dry blankets, folding them up and put them into his pack knowing that as it got colder they would need them. In another tent, he found a box of candies, thinking of how they might make Evan happy. They found little food, most of it having been taken when the camp was raided, but took what they could.

"Hey! Brock!" Brian called, pulling his attention away from the book he had been reading. He set the book back down on the bunk, walking out of the tent to find Brian standing in the doorway to one of the houses. He held something that flashed bright gold in the dim light. "Don't you and Evan have this?" Brian held it out to Brock who took the patch in his gloved hands. He stared down at the golden owl patch, bits of green fabric and string from the jacket it had been torn off hanging off the sides. "I found this in here. You have the same one don't you?"

"It's Jonathan's…" Brock whispered, holding the patch tightly.

"He was the guy you, Evan and Tyler were friends with right?" Brian asked, pulling his pack over his shoulder.

"Not was. Is." Brock said quietly, tucking the patch into his pocket. "He's alive."

"Whatever helps you sleep." Brian said as he walked past Brock, heading back towards where they had made their camp.

"He is alive!" Brock snapped, hurrying to catch up with him. Brian didn't say anything else as they walked and neither did Brock. The weight of the patch in his pocket felt heavier than his pack, his hand curled around it in his pocket. He wasn't sure if he could show it to Evan, fearing that it would only upset him more. Evan was surviving on hope. Hope that Jonathan was alive and hope that he and everyone else he was with would make it. The patch in his pocket would only destroy it.

"Jonathan!" Tyler had yelled, the bloodstained letter falling from his hand as he dropped beside Jonathan. He pressed his hands to the wound, ducking his head as more bullets flew overhead, ricocheting off the plane. "Jonathan! Hey! Hey it's okay! You're okay!" Tyler stammered. Jonathan held onto Tyler's wrist tightly, struggling to breathe.

"Evan...Evan said that he's okay?" Jonathan managed to say, his eyes on the dark grey sky and the snow that fell around him.

"He did. And he wants you to be okay too!" Tyler cried. Another flurry of bullets forced him to get up for a moment to shoot back.

"You...You gotta get out of here." Jonathan gasped when Tyler knelt beside him. Tyler shook his head, giving him a playful smack on his cheek as if to smack him out of thinking like that.

"Don't say that. I'm not going anywhere without you!" Tyler insisted. Jonathan shook his head, looking up at him with wide tear filled eyes.

"No...No you gotta go. You're gonna...You're gonna get killed...Please...Go find Evan for me...Get in your plane and go!" Jonathan managed to yell. Tyler shook his head, closing his eyes tightly.

"I'm not...I'm not leaving you to die." Tyler's voice broke. Jonathan's hand went up to the owl patch on his jacket, tugging at it hard enough to pull it off. The fabric ripped as the patch came off, the golden owl feathers glittering in the dying light. "What are you doing?"

"When you find Evan...You give this to him okay? You give it to him!" Jonathan put it into Tyler's hand, tears falling from his eyes. "You give it to him and you tell him I'm okay! You tell him!"

"No! No I'm fucking not cause that's what you are gonna do! You're gonna tell him you're okay and you're gonna resew this fucking patch! You hear me!?" Tyler yelled. Jonathan didn't respond, blood seeping through Tyler's gloves and around his fingers. "You hear me?! If I get in my plane right now then you have to too! You gotta promise me that you'll that! You can do it! We'll meet up and go find your Peacekeeper friend! Come on, Jonathan!" Tyler cried. Jonathan nodded, not noticing when Tyler slipped the patch back into his pocket. "I'll cover you as you get to your plane. You land somewhere far away and safe from here. I won't be far behind, I promise!" Jonathan held onto Tyler tightly as he pulled him to his feet, crying out in pain as it moved his shoulder. Blood splattered from the wound to the white snow, his sleeve soaked with blood. "Come on! You can do it!" Tyler turned, shooting at the soldiers that were advancing towards the plane. Some of them ducked out of the line of fire, others falling dead to the snow covered pavement. Jonathan stumbled towards his plane, leaving bloody handprints on the metal as he managed to climb up onto it and pull the hatch open. "I'll be right behind! We'll find Evan! Don't you worry, Jonathan!" Tyler yelled. Jonathan nodded, managing to get into his plane and get it running. "Get away from here! I'll find you!" Tyler yelled even though Jonathan couldn't hear him anymore. "We're gonna make it!"

Tyler's eyes fluttered open, the world dark. A small flickering light from the candles beside him illuminated the small room he was in. For a moment he thought that he was still dreaming but the sore pain on his side brought him back to reality. His eyes landed on Evan sat beside him wrapped in a sleeping bag, his head dropped against his chest. Brock, Brian and Marcel were asleep across the room, quiet snores breaking the silence. Looking back at Evan, he realised that his eyes were open, staring ahead at something that he couldn't see.

"E-Evan?" There was no response. "Vanoss?" Evan looked up, his hands visibly shaking as his eyes met Tyler's. "Hey...W-What's wrong, Owl boy?" Tyler winced as he reached for Evan's hand.

"I-I-I t-thought y-you were dead." Evan leaned down, pulling Tyler into a hug. He rested his head against his chest, eyes closed tightly to stop the tears.

"W-Well I'm not so you ain't got anything to worry about." Tyler said with a laugh, patting the back of his head gently. Evan sat back up slowly, tears still falling from his eyes. "A-Are you crying cause you're so happy?" Evan didn't respond. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out something golden with bits of thread and green fabric hanging off the sides. Tyler stared at it, memories of promises and bullets ringing in his head. "Evan...What is that?" He already knew what it was. The same owl patch on Evan's jacket stared at Tyler with it's big yellow eyes and bloodstained feathers.

"B-Brock g-gave it to m-me. H-He s-said they f-found it i-in o-one of the b-buildings." Evan said quietly. Tyler took the patch from him, looking at the way the feathers sparkled in the candle light.

"I-I didn't exactly leave him behind, Evan. I-I told him I'd catch up with him if he got away from the fight we were in. H-He would have died if he didn't. We were seperated and I don't know what happened to him. But just because you have this doesn't mean that he's dead. He's Jonathan. He's Delirious. He's okay." Tyler smiled weakly. Evan nodded, wiping the tears away. "Y-You should get some sleep. You look dead." Tyler laughed.

"S-Shut up." Evan smiled as he pulled himself into his sleeping bag, blowing the candles out. "I-I'm n-not dead yet." He laid beside Tyler, looking up at the dark ceiling.

"Don't say that." Tyler said sternly. Evan glanced at him with an apologetic look before turning were quiet for so long that Tyler thought that he had fallen asleep so he was startled when Evan spoke again. "D-Do you r-really still t-think w-we're gonna g-get t-through t-this?"

"Of course." Tyler turned his head to look at Evan, barely able to see him in the dark. Evan smiled, turning his head back up to the ceiling. "Don't you?"

"I-I h-hope so.'

Marcel woke with a start, looking around the dimly lit room with wide eyes. A loud bang had woken him, sounding like an echoing gunshot. None of the others had been woken up by it, sleeping deeply on the hardwood floor. He shook Brian awake, reaching for his gun.

"What's going on?" Brian yawned, stretching his arms above his head.

"Shut up and listen." Marcel ordered as he peered through one of the windows. He couldn't see anything outside through the thick fog, the heavy silence feeling eerie. "I heard gunshots."

"You were probably dreaming or some shit. Go back to sleep or if you're up, start making us breakfast." Brian groaned as he laid back down. A second gunshot, this time sounding closer made him jump awake, scrambling to his feet. Brock and Evan were woken up with a start, both sitting up quickly.

The sound of something hitting the door made them all jump, startling Tyler from his sleep. They all stared at the door as something hit it repeatedly with force. Evan gripped Tyler's hand tightly, the fear making it hard to breathe. Brock glanced at Evan then to the door, getting to his feet silently as he grabbed his gun. Marcel and Brian had backed away, their guns aimed at the door. It wouldn't hold forever and they were all too terrified to move.

"Please!" A voice from the other side of the door screamed. "We're Allied! Please! Open the door!" Evan got to his feet silently, moving towards the door.

"Evan don't. Don't open that door!" Marcel whispered as Evan turned the handle.


	10. Chapter 10

The door opened with a soft click. Evan took a deep breath, his hand on his gun as he gripped the handle tightly. He threw open the door, hoisting his gun to aim. A cold wind blew through the room, drifts of snow landing on the rotting wood floor.

The tall soldier stared down at Evan who stared up at him, both of them aiming their guns at each other. Evan's eyes moved to the soldier who sat on the snow beside the tall soldier, his hand pressed to a bloody wound on his shoulder. He didn't seem awake, his glasses cracked and speckled with blood and dirt.

"W-What h-happened t-to him?" Evan said, pointing his gun to the soldier.

"He got shot! You gotta help him! You're a Peacekeeper aren't you? You can help him, right? Please! Their still out there!" The soldier said, his voice deep with an Irish accent. Evan looked back up at him, hearing the others gather behind him. The tall soldier who hadn't seemed intimidated by the short Peacekeeper was now taking a step back from the group that surrounded him.

"Who is still out there?" Marcel snapped, stepping closer to Evan.

"The people who shot at us! Who shot Craig! Please you have to help us!" The soldier motioned to the one beside him.

"G-Get h-him i-inside." Evan ordered, looking back at the others. Brock and Brian stepped forward, helping the soldier to his feet and lead him inside. "T-Tyler, B-Brock...S-Stay h-here a-and t-take c-care o-of h-him. T-The r-rest o-of us a-are g-gonna g-g0 s-see i-if w-we c-can f-find t-the s-shooters." Evan said as he stepped out in the fog.

"Are you sure? Can't we just wait it out?" The tall Irish soldier asked, following Evan, Brian and Marcel.

"We can't go anywhere while your buddy is hurt and we aren't gonna let a bunch of fuckers with guns run us out of this place." Brian caught up to Evan, the group staying close together. "We don't hide either." With a glare from Evan, Brian stopped talking. The fog was so thick, they could hardly see in front of them. It was silent, faintly able to hear the ocean that wasn't far away.

"They were here." The soldier breathed. A dark object suddenly sailed through the fog, landing at Evan's feet. He stared down at the large round object, not sure of what it was for a moment. The realization of what it was forced a terrified gasp out of him, his eyes going wide.

"Grenade!" Evan screamed, slipping and falling on to the snow in his attempt to get away from the explosive. The others scattered, scrambling to get into the nearby houses. Evan managed to pick himself and started to run towards one of the houses, reaching for Marcel who held his hand out to him to pull him through the broken window. The explosion threw Evan off his feet, hitting the wall of the house with force. He landed in a heap on the snow, his ears ringing, vision blurring. He faintly heard gunshots fire in the direction of where the grenade had come from, hands rolling him over. He could see Brian over him, hands grabbing his collar and shaking him harshly.

"Evan! You're okay! Come on!" Brian said, helping Evan up. Evan winced, feeling bruised from the impact. A second grenade shot through the air, landing in the middle of the street. Brian pushed Evan into the corner of the wall, protecting the smaller Peacekeeper from the explosion.

"Where the fuck are they coming from?" Marcel yelled, firing through the fog. Brian moved away from Evan, seeing the new soldier on the other side of the street, taking cover in one of the doorways. He stepped out for a moment to shoot in the direction of where the grenades had been thrown from before ducking back in.

"I don't know! Keep moving up!" Brian yelled back, moving slowly up the street. Evan followed, his finger over the trigger of his gun. "There! There!" Brian yelled, pointing to one of the houses were someone had just run by one of the windows. The four soldiers raised their guns and opened fire.

Tyler could hear the sound of explosions and gunfire, memories of battle coming back to him. He pushed it away, focusing on the bleeding soldier in front of him.

"What's your name, soldier? I'm Tyler and this is Brock." Tyler spoke as he cleaned the blood away from the gunshot wound which wasn't very deep but still bled badly.

"C...Craig…" The soldier breathed, closing his eyes.

"Craig listen to me. You gotta stay awake for me right now." Tyler said, cupping his face in his hand for a moment. "Keep talking to me, Craig. Where are you from? You got a British accent?" Tyler asked with a smile, holding his hand out to Brock who gave him a pair of tweezers to pull the bullet out.

"Y-Yeah...I was...I was born there." Craig breathed, looking up at Tyler through his dirty glasses.

"Take a deep breath. This is gonna hurt. Just keep breathing, okay?" Tyler gave him a reassuring smile, using the tweezers to grip the bullet and pull it out. Craig reached for Brock's hand, holding onto him tightly as the bronze bullet was pulled out of the wound. "There you go. Worst of it is almost over."

Marcel kicked open the door, seeing no one inside the building. They had gotten most of the attackers, realising that they were Revolters when they looked over the bodies and saw a mix of uniforms, Allied or not. Marcel went back outside, staying low. He saw movement ahead of him, ducking into the doorway as a bullet ricocheted off the wood frame.

"Marcel!" Brian cried from where he was taking cover behind a military truck. "You hit?"

"No! I'm good!" Marcel yelled back, brushing the splinters of wood off his jacket. Evan and the new soldier were nearby, crouched behind a crumbling wall. Marcel watched Evan move out of cover and fire at the Revolters, hearing cries of pain as a few of them fell to the snow. The remaining Revolters fled through the fog away from the four soldiers. They didn't move, waiting in silence for what felt like forever.

"Are they gone? Did we get them?" The soldier finally asked, breaking the silence. Evan stayed still as Brian and Marcel walked over the bodies, nudging them with their feet to see if they were still alive but there was no movement.

"Got em!" Marcel called back to them. Evan got up, looking back at the tall soldier who gave him a small smile.

"Good shooting for a Peacekeeper." The soldier said. "Thank you for helping us. You could have easily left us out here to die. I mean it would have been easier on you guys. I owe you. My name is Daithi by the way." He extended his hand, holding it out to Evan. Evan hesitated before shaking his hand.

"E-Evan. Y-You c-could a-also c-call m-me V-Vanoss." Evan smiled.

"You got a war name? I thought Peacekeepers didn't get war names." Daithi laughed as Marcel and Brian walked back to them.

"M-My f-friend L-Lui...H-He g-gave t-the n-name t-to m-me." Evan explained with a small smile at the memory. Daithi froze, his eyes widening.

"What did you say?" Daithi said after a moment. Evan looked up at him, confused. When he didn't answer, Daithi grabbed his collar, pinning him up against the wall. "What did you just say?" He yelled, tightening his grip on Evan's collar. Evan gasped for air, dropping his gun to claw at Daithi's hands.

"L-Lui! M-My friend! H-He g-gave m-me t-the name!" Evan cried, holding up his hands in a form of surrender.

"Where is he? Where is Lui?" Daithi demanded.

"Let him go right now." Brian snarled, aiming his gun at Daithi."I will not think twice about putting a bullet in your head if you don't." He dropped Evan who fell to the snow, gasping for air. Marcel helped Evan up, pulling him away from Daithi.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to hurt you...I just...Lui...He's my friend and I haven't seen him for a long time...And Evan said that he knows him." Daithi stammered. No one said anything, not wanting to say what they were all thinking. "Where is he?"

"D-Daithi…" Evan said quietly, looking down at the snow. "I-I'm s-sorry."

"Oh god...No." Daithi looked away, his eyes fill with tears. "No...No…How?"

"From the cold. There was a storm...It was bad." Marcel explained, staying in between Evan and Daithi. Daithi didn't say anything, holding his hand over his mouth as he started to cry. Evan pushed past Marcel, pulling the taller soldier into a hug. Daithi was shocked at first, surprised that Evan would want to get close to him again, but he wrapped his arms around the Peacekeeper, crying onto his shoulder.

"We took care of each other...Watched out for each other...and I couldn't be there to...to help him...when he needed it…" He sobbed. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry I hurt you Evan."

"I-It's o-okay. I-It's o-okay."

"Is he going to be okay?" Daithi asked quietly, looking up at Tyler who sat on the other side of Craig. The soldier had been asleep since Tyler had stitched up the wound and given him strong painkillers. Tyler looked up at him and nodded.

"Yeah. It's not that bad of a wound as I had thought it would be." Tyler smiled. It was too cold to be outside, having to nibble on the candies that Brock had found and whatever food didn't require a fire. Marcel had gone to sleep already while Brian stayed awake, reading his book. Brock lay on his sleeping bag, writing again. Evan was laying on Tyler's other side, reading the letters he had gotten from Jonathan again.

"That's good." Daithi smiled. Tyler had cleaned Craig's glasses, using melted snow to wash the dirt and blood off. Tyler glanced over his shoulder at Evan who was starting to nod off, his letters still held tightly in his hand.

"Get some sleep, Owl boy." Tyler said softly, patting his shoulder. Evan shook his head slightly, rubbing his eyes to try to wake himself up. "Why not?"

"I-I h-haven't b-been s-sleeping w-well." Evan said quietly as if ashamed to admit it.

"Nightmares?" Tyler sighed. Evan nodded. "I'll stay awake and if you start having one, I'll wake you up. Okay? You need your rest."

"S-So d-do y-you." Evan insisted, setting his letters down on his chest.

"Evan. Don't make me fight you." Tyler laughed. Evan playfully punched his arm a few times, letting out a cry of shock when Tyler hit back, pulling him into a choke hold. His arms wrapped around Evan's head, his arms flailing and his legs kicking in his sleeping bag. Evan started laughing, a bright happy sound that most of them hadn't heard before or in a long time, making them all smile. Daithi laughed, Brock and Brian looking up at them with smiles. "I said don't fight me! Stop struggling and go to sleep, Evan!"

"L-Let me go!" Evan giggled, his voice muffled by Tyler's arms.

"Hey! Shut the fuck up you two!" Marcel snapped from inside his sleeping bag. Tyler didn't let go of Evan who continued to flail and laugh.

"Tyler stop! You're gonna pull your stitches!" Brock giggled. "Don't kill Evan!"

"Just having a little fun. Just cause it's the end of the world doesn't mean we can't have fun." Tyler laughed, loosening his grip on Evan who squirmed free of the chokehold.

"I-It's n-not t-the e-end." Evan stuttered breathlessly from laughing so much, pulling his sleeping bag over himself. Tyler smiled at the hopeful comment, glancing back at Evan. In a few minutes, Evan had fallen asleep, the slight rise and fall of his breathing steadying out as he fell asleep.

"How did all of you guys end up meeting up?" Daithi asked after a little while. Brock had fallen asleep with his pen still in hand, Brian still reading in the dim candle light.

"It started when Evan shot a flare and I happened to see it." Tyler said with a smile. He didn't mean to but he ended up telling Daithi the whole story. He talked about Evan's owl patch and Jonathan, told him about Lui and how brave he was, told him about Brian and Marcel and Brock. He told him about the train and their goal to get there first. He told him how they had to get there for Lui, that there was no way they could give up. "We need each other. I couldn't do this on my own. I'd go insane if I was alone. All I'd think about would be the shit that I've seen and I've done. But with these guys, I don't think about it. I think about them and what I gotta do to keep them alive. They are my family now."

Evan wanted to scream. The blood soaked his gloves and dripped between his fingers to the blinding white snow. Bodies lay around him. Lui and Luke, their dead eyes staring at him like the owl patch sewn to his jacket stared back. Turning around, Evan's eyes landed on Jonathan's body, his wide smile looking dead and disturbed. Evan couldn't breathe, his hands shaking as he stumbled forward. He fell to his knees by Jonathan, reaching with bloody hands for him. Jonathan's hand suddenly curled around his wrist, a scream ripping itself out of Evan's throat.

Evan's eyes flew open, letting out a shocked cry as he sat up. He stared around the dark room with wide eyes, struggling to breathe. He noticed a hand on his shoulder, looking up at the soldier who sat beside him. It was the soldier they had saved the day before, gauze wrapped around his shoulder.

"Hey...It's okay. It's just a nightmare." Craig said softly. "I get them all the time too." Evan relaxed a little, letting out a deep sigh. "D-Do you w-wanna talk about it?" Evan shook his head, hugging his knees to his chest. "That's okay. I understand." Craig sat back down on his sleeping bag. "After the things that I saw...I started getting angry really easy. Over the smallest, stupidest things too. I had nightmares and I'd get angry about that too. I wanted to be able to sleep without worrying about something that wasn't real." Craig paused, meeting Evan's gaze. "You aren't alone, Evan."

"I-I s-started s-stuttering." Evan whispered, hanging his head. "I-I w-want i-it t-to s-stop. I-I'm s-scared. I-I'm s-scared o-of it g-getting worse." Craig could see the effort that Evan put into trying to talk without tripping over words, a look of frustration flashing over his face.

"Me too." Craig looked down at the floor, his hand going to the still sore wound on his side. He noticed the gauze wrapped around Evan's arm, a bit of blood on the dirty white fabric. It seemed as though almost everyone of these soldiers had seen damage, some worse than others.

"Y-You k-know...w-when t-the w-war s-started...I-I t-thought i-it w-would b-blow o-over a-and b-be n-nothing. I-I w-was m-more c-concerned about s-starting u-university. N-Now...I-I'd g-give a-anything t-to j-just b-be n-nervous a-about t-that." Evan laughed. "I-I w-was s-so s-stupid b-back then."

"No you weren't. You were living a normal, happy life. You couldn't have seen this coming. No one could have."

The next few days passed slowly as they waited for Tyler and Craig to get better enough got them to start travelling again. They would spend their time resting while the others would explore the town, finding more supplies or walking back down to the beach. One day, Brock and Evan found themselves back at Jonathan's plane, just spending time sitting on the wings and looking over the ocean.

It was the third day in the town, the sun just starting to rise as they were waking up. Evan laid in his sleeping bag, looking up at the ceiling as Tyler snored beside him. Evan yawned, closing his eyes as he rolled onto his side, deciding that he could probably sleep for a little bit longer.

"Vanoss...Are you awake?" Marcel whispered. Evan turned his head to look at him as he sat up, looking at the door.

"Mmm..?" Evan yawned again, rubbing his eyes.

"Did you hear that?" Marcel asked.

"H-Hear w-what?" Evan stretched a little, figuring it was probably nothing. Without any warning, bullets shattered through the window and the wood door, the loud gunshots deafening. Evan threw himself over Tyler to protect him from the rain of bullets, glass and wood, his arms over his head. The others were woken instantly, pressing themselves as low to the floor as they possibly could.

When the shooting stopped for a few moments for the attackers to reload, Evan and Marcel jumped into action, grabbing their guns as they moved to the windows, opening fire on the Revolters outside. They were forced to throw themselves back down to the floor as the Revolters starting to shoot at them again. Tyler grabbed Evan, pulling him across the floor over to him as bullets and pieces of wood flew around them.

"We gotta get out of here! Pack what you can and we'll find a way out the back!" Brian yelled. The seven of them jumped into action, grabbing their things and stuffed them into their packs.

"Get to the back windows!" Brock cried as he scrambled to his feet. Tyler used the weight of his pack to break one of the windows open, climbing through and landed in the snow on the other side. He rolled to his feet quickly, shooting at the few Revolters who had gone to the back. He waited for the others to follow, him and Craig covering them as they climbed out of the window and ran towards the trees.

"Craig! Go! I got this!" Tyler yelled as three more Revolters ran around the corner. Craig shook his head, staying at Tyler's side as he shot at the Revolters.

"Tyler! Craig!" Daithi yelled from the trees. They turned and sprinted towards the group. Once they reached them, the group ran through the woods, the Revolters not far behind. They would have to stop and shoot back. They didn't stop until they no longer heard the gunshots, gasping for air as they came to a stop.

"E-Everyone o-okay?" Evan asked, struggling to catch his breath. They all nodded, leaning against the trees.

"Shit that was scary." Daithi laughed. The others smiled and laughed in relief, the adrenaline wearing off. Tyler pulled his pack off, setting it down on the snow as he searched for the map.

"I guess we can't go back then, can we?" Brock asked.

"No. There are probably more Revolters there. We're dead if we go back." Brian sighed. "Just gotta keep going north. Find the train." Tyler was panicking, pulling everything out of his pack.

"Who grabbed the map? Who has it?" Tyler cried, his eyes wide with panic. The others checked their packs, hoping to find the map yet no one did. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Tyler yelled, throwing his gun down on the snow. "We're fucked! We're fucking dead! How the fuck are we going to fucking find that train?" He screamed with with anger. "We're done!"

"N-No...W-We c-can't...I-It's g-gotta b-be c-close." Evan stammered, tears in his eyes.

"No! No Evan! It's not that easy! I don't even know what direction we're going in now! We're lost! We're gonna die just like fucking Lui!" Tyler stepped towards Evan as he yelled. "We're gonna freeze to death wandering around the fucking woods looking for this goddamn train!"

"Don't yell at him!" Brock shouted, shoving Tyler away from Evan.

"Don't yell? How else am I supposed to fucking react right now, Brock? We left our fucking map behind and the damn Revolters are gonna get it! There is no way we could get to the train now!" Tyler sat down on the snow, running his hands through his hair.

"You said that we couldn't give up now." Daithi snapped. "You said for Lui that you would get to that train no matter what! You're gonna give up now?! You bitch!" He yelled, kicking him harshly in the side. Tyler cried out in pain, scrambling to get away from him.

"How do you plan on finding it without a map?!" Tyler screamed.

"Stop it! Shut up! Just fucking shut up!" Brian yelled. They stopped, looking up at him. He stood beside Evan who had his hands over his face to hide the tears. Craig looked sick, looking around the woods as if he was looking for a sign that would show them which way to go. Marcel had sat down on the snow, hugging his pack tightly. "Yelling at each other isn't gonna bring our map back! We left it behind and now we just gotta deal with it. So let's just go. We'll start walking and we'll figure it out. We just can't lose it right now. You said we gotta try to get there for Lui. We're aren't gonna let him down. So get up. We're gonna walk." Brian ordered. It took them a little while but they finally got up and started walking.

The snow fell softly, landing on their uniforms and the trees around them as they walked. As the day went on and hours of pained walking in silence passed, they found themselves slowing down to a stumble. The motivation to continue was gone. Evan repeated to himself over and over that it was for Lui and Luke and everyone else they had lost that he had to keep going yet he found himself exhausted emotionally and physically. No one spoke, fearing they would just end up fighting again and none of them had the energy for it.

They finally stopped when they reached a river, the fast flowing rapids roaring over the hard rocks and the chunks of ice that formed near the edges. They stopped on the top of a cliff, looking down at the water as it roared past with a current that roared past. The sound was so peaceful and calming, their exhaustion crashing over them like the water on the rocks. There was no point in continuing it seemed.

"This seems like a nice spot. Why don't we just stop here?" Craig dropped his pack to the snow and followed it down, laying his head down on it.

"S-Sounds l-like a g-good." Evan said, doing the same. The others sat down or laid on the snow, needing to rest their feet. They were too tired to even set up their tent. Evan closed his eyes, laying his head against his pack as he shivered, his hand going to the owl patch on his jacket. Maybe now he could fall asleep for a little bit longer.

"Help! Help! Somebody!" Evan's eyes snapped open. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep, the world having gotten dark around him. He got to his feet slowly, his hand going to the bruise on his left arm. He felt tears in his eyes at the pain proving that he wasn't dreaming. "Help! Somebody!" Evan knew that voice.


	11. Chapter 11

Evan wasn't sure when he had started running or when the others had caught up him only that he had to get to where the voice was coming from. He was faintly aware of his friends calling his name but he was more focused on the voice crying out for help. He knew that voice too well. From late night skype calls as he had studied to the summer after he graduated spent swimming at the river and playing video games till the sun rose. It was a voice from a time of peace that Evan thought that he would never hear again. He thought he had forgotten it.

"Jonathan!" Evan yelled, pushing snow covered branches out of his way as he sprinted through the snow. On the rocks near the river, ice coated the surface and his feet slipped out from under him. Evan crashed to the ice, crying out in pain as the stitches on his right arm pulled from the force.

"Help! Help!" He heard faintly. Brock was suddenly pulling Evan to his feet, steadying him on the ice.

"Evan! Wait!" Tyler cried as Evan started to run again. The bank rose up again along the river to high cliffs, the rocks icy, jagged and sharp.

"Jonathan!" Evan yelled, ignoring the others and their cries for him to stop. Arms were suddenly around his waist, a force throwing him to the ground as bullets shot over his head and hit the trees behind him. Tyler pinned Evan down to the snow, the others dropping beside him them to dodge the bullets. "G-get off me! I-It's Jonathan! W-We g-gotta h-help h-him!" Evan cried, struggling to get away from Tyler. "L-let me go!"

"You're gonna get fucking killed!" Tyler cried, keeping Evan pinned. "You don't know for sure if that's Jonathan! Don't be stupid!"

"Y-Yes I-I d-do!" Evan cried, managing to drag himself away from Tyler, more shots firing over their heads. Evan swung his gun off his back, taking aim at the Revolters that were firing at them. Looking through his scope, he froze when he saw two Revolters holding a pilot between them by his arms. He bled badly from cuts and bruises to his face, his eyes wide with fear that turned to Evan's direction. Evan shot one of the Revolters, getting to his feet and ran towards Jonathan. The other Revolter was caught off guard as Evan rammed the end of his gun into his face, throwing him back away from Jonathan. Thinking he was knocked out, Evan dropped his gun, falling to his knees beside Jonathan. He stared at Evan as he pulled him into a hug, his hands gripping at his jacket as if he was scared that he would disappear from his grasp.

"E...Evan?" Jonathan couldn't believe it, hesitant to hug back. "Evan!"

"I-It's m-me...I-It's m-me." Evan stuttered, pressing his face against Jonathan's shoulder. "I-It's m-me." Tears fell from his eyes, landing on Jonathan's green jacket. He felt Jonathan's hands push back the lapel of Evan's jacket to reveal the owl patch with it's faded and bloodied feathers. "I-It's m-me." Hands were suddenly grabbing Evan, dragging him away from Jonathan. Evan managed to spin around, using the momentum as he got to his feet to hit the Revolter hard, hearing a cracking of bone though he wasn't sure if it was from the Revolter's nose or his knuckles cracking under the pressure from the hit. The Revolter punched back, knocking Evan into a daze as he stumbled back. The Revolter wrapped his arms around Evan's neck, choking the air out of him. Evan managed to grab onto the Revolter's arms and threw himself forward. The motion threw the Revolters over him, landing on the hard icy snow. Evan gasped for air, glancing at Jonathan with a triumphant smile before letting out a cry of shock as he crashed to the icy snow when his legs were kicked out from under him, a hard punch from Revolter blurring the world. He felt warm blood trickle down his face, dripping onto the snow by his head. He could taste the iron taste of blood, his head throbbing and ears ringing. He tried to get up but was knocked down by another hit, a flash of a silver knife catching his fading sight. The knife was pressed to his throat, the cold metal stinging against his skin.

Fueled by adrenaline and anger, Jonathan got to his feet, his hands curling around Evan's gun that he had dropped to the snow. Is if the gun was a bat, Jonathan swung the gun at the Revolter's head, throwing him off Evan in a splatter of blood. The Revolter fell back to the snow, spitting out blood onto the white icy surface, the knife landing beside him. Before he could grab it, Jonathan hit the Revolters again with the gun, knocking out teeth and blood.

"Don't you fucking touch him!" Jonathan yelled, ramming the end of the gun into the Revolter's skull repeatedly. Blood, bone and flesh painted the snow a dark red colour and dripped off the end of the gun as he stepped away, knowing the others that had been with Evan were watching him as if he was insane. Jonathan turned in time so shoot another Revolter that ran at him, their body dropping dead beside Evan who lay behind him. Jonathan dropped the bloody gun and knelt by Evan's side, aware if the blood that had splattered onto his face and soaked his gloves. Evan was breathing, knocked out and bruised but alive.

"Jonathan?" He turned and looked up at Tyler and Brock who stared back with wide eyes. Tyler dropped to his knees, hugging Jonathan tightly. "You're alive...You're alive!"

"You're alive? What the fuck!" Jonathan had laughed, holding his game controller tightly. Brock's laughter filled his headphones.

"I know! I totally thought you got me there! Oh hey, Evan joined the call! Hey Evan!" Brock said brightly. Evan didn't say anything which made Jonathan pause the game, setting his controller down on his desk. Something was wrong. He and Brock had gone home early from their visit to Evan's, the looming threat of a world war on their minds constantly. Jonathan and Brock had enlisted in the military, telling themselves that it would never get so bad that they'd be sent off to fight in the worst of it. "Ev?"

"I enlisted today." Evan finally said with a sigh. Jonathan felt his heart drop, his smile fading away.

"What? Evan no! You're going off to school in a few days! What were you thinking?" Jonathan cried, hitting the desk. "Did you join the army because we did?" Evan didn't respond. "Evan!"

"Yes! How could I go to school and pretend I'm fine while my two best friends are going off to war!? I can't! I can't!" Evan cried his voice breaking. "So I joined the Peacekeepers."

"Evan…" Brock sighed. "No. You can't give up your dreams and goals for this! You have your whole life ahead of you."

"And you don't? If I couldn't stop you from enlisting than the least I can do is join you. I'm not gonna sit here and fill my head with more physics and have no idea what is going on out in the world." It was quiet for a few moments, all of them trying to think of something to say. "Besides...the war will be over soon won't it? And we'll all be home and everything will be okay. We'll all be together again. We'll make it." Evan said though he sounded as though he didn't believe it. Jonathan and Brock didn't believe it either.

Evan's eyes fluttered open, taking in the tent around him. He was wrapped in his sleeping bag, another warm blanket tucked over him. He faintly remembered running through the snow and feeling blood on his face and a knife to his throat. The memory of hearing that voice again came back to him, his eyes widening as he looked around the tent.

"J-Jonathan…" Evan stammered, wincing as he sat up.

"Hey. I'm here. It's okay." Evan's eyes turned to see Jonathan move closer to him, smiling softly. "Your head got hit pretty bad. You should lay back down. You're gonna make it worse if you keep freaking out." Jonathan smiled. Evan laid back down, looking up at Jonathan with a look of wonder and disbelief. Both of them were amazed that the other was there in front of them. They had so many questions for each other but were okay with just being quiet for a little while and being in each other's presence.

Tyler had told Jonathan about Evan's stutter so he wouldn't be shocked by it when he spoke and that something had happened at the Peacekeeper's camp that upset him so much that he couldn't forget it. Jonathan wanted to ask, wondering what happened to Luke and why he wasn't with Evan or what had shocked him so much but something told him it would be better if he didn't. If Evan wanted to tell him he would when he was ready.

Evan reached into his coat pocket, his hand curling around the patch that he had kept safe there. He pulled it out, holding it out to Jonathan. Jonathan stared at it for a few moments before taking it from him, smiling slightly. "I thought this was gone for good." He said softly, tracing the golden bright feathers. They shone brighter than Evan's patch and it made him sad. It wasn't just Evan's patch that had lost it's shine.

"B-Brock f-found i-it." Evan smiled. "W-Why w-was i-it t-torn o-off in t-the f-first place?"

"I was going to give it to Tyler who said he would find you and give it to you." Jonathan whispered, holding the owl patch tightly.

"W-Why?"

"I thought I was going to die." Jonathan closed his eyes, his hand curling around the patch.

"Y-You d-didn't." Evan whispered. "Y-You m-made i-it. I-I d-don't k-know w-what y-you h-had t-to do or what h-happened to y-you b-but you d-did." Jonathan smiled, pulling Evan into a hug. "T-That's a-all t-that m-matters."

"You know what I miss? Having my own bed. I'm really damn sick of sleeping bags and being surrounded by you fucks." Marcel laughed, taking a sip from his hot chocolate.

"You don't like sharing a tent with me?" Brian laughed beside him. The six of them sat around the campfire, warming their hands and watching the sparks fly up into the sky as they drank their hot chocolate.

"I really miss actual good food. I would kill for a good burger right now." Tyler smiled, poking at the snow with his gun. The others smiled and nodded in agreement."Or a milkshake. Or bacon."

"Dude stop. You're making me hungry." Brock smiled, pulling his jacket closer around himself.

"I miss my girlfriend." Daithi sighed, his head resting in his hands. The boys laughed but they couldn't help but think of their own special someone they had been forced to say goodbye to.

"You guys are gonna make me cry." Craig cried, wiping his eyes with his sleeves. Tyler pulled him into a hug, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"What's something that you miss or makes you happy?" Tyler asked with a smile. It had seemed as if the pain of losing their map had been forgotten, replaced with a kind of closeness and acceptance.

"You guys make me happy. You're all so brave and caring. I thought that all disappeared with Drop Day." Craig smiled, looking around the circle.

"W-We a-aren't t-that b-brave. I-I k-know B-Brock h-here g-gets s-scared a-all t-the t-time." Evan said from behind them. They turned and looked up at him as he and Jonathan sat down between Brock and Tyler.

"Hey shut up Ev! I remember you weren't able to watch that horror movie that one time! You aren't that brave either!" Brock shot back.

"I-I t-thought t-this w-was a h-happy, t-trust c-circle, B-Brock." Evan narrowed his eyes at him though he smiled.

"It is. Speaking of trust…" Tyler gave them a mug of hot chocolate, steam from the warm drink drifting around them as the fire popped and sparked. "We're all dying to know how you survived, Jonathan. I thought for sure that you were dead." Jonathan took a sip from his hot chocolate, glancing up at the others who stared him expectantly.

"It's a long story." Jonathan shrugged.

"We aren't worried about time." Brook said quietly. Jonathan set his mug down on the snow, taking a deep breath as he thought about where to start.

"It started when the airfield me and Tyler were stationed at was attacked. We were getting shot at and it was a complete mess. People were dying left and right. I had gotten shot too. It was more like a graze but it still hurt like hell." Jonathan noticed Evan's hand go to his right arm, holding his hand over the gauze on his arm. "And I thought I was done for. Tyler here convinced me that we had to get away from the airfield or we would get killed-"

"Which would have fucking happened, Delirious. I saved your life." Tyler snapped.

"No. I saved my life. Anyways...I got into my plane which being honest was really stupid, and I thought that I would end up finding Tyler but I didn't. I was starting to pass out and I crash landed my plane onto the beach. I had to patch up the wound on my shoulder. It was really bad. Blood everywhere. I ended up passing out eventually. I remember getting woken up when these guys threw open the hatch to my plane and dragged me out. I fought back, killing a few and I was certain they were gonna kill me too. For some reason they seemed impressed with me-"

"Revolters." Marcel said quietly, cutting Jonathan off.

"That's what you call them?" Jonathan asked, glancing up at him.

"Yeah. Me, Brian and our friend Lui were in their group. They can be real fucking bastards. They like people who can kill." Marcel leaned back, finishing his drink. Daithi looked sad at the mention of Lui, keeping his eyes on the fire as he tried not to think about what Lui might of had to do to survive as long as he did.

"I know. They wanted me to join them and I said no and that I'd rather they killed me but they were really stubborn about it. They ended up taking me with them, and we ended up at this town near the coast. They basically forced me to join their cause. They kept talking about who they were gonna be the rulers of this frozen world and kill everyone who would try to stop them. I guess since I wasn't stopping them, they were keeping me alive after all. It was really weird. It was scary." He paused, glancing around the circle at them all. "And then these other soldiers showed up in the town. They were Navy guys and the Revolters just shot them all. It was...It was bad. They got mad at me when I didn't shoot them. I didn't want to! They were on my side!" Jonathan stopped when he saw Brock put his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes as if getting rid of tears. "And then another group of soldiers showed up a few days after that." The ones that had been looking down now looked up at him, then looked at each other with knowing looks. "The Revolters, whatever you called them….They caught these soldiers on the beach near where I had crashed my plane and one of these soldiers had gotten shot and I heard one of them yell and I knew that voice. I'd heard it before the war and I told myself that it couldn't be true, that there was no way. Some of the Revolters got shot so the ones I was with went back to where there was a bigger group of them. And when we came back with reinforcements to 'kill these motherfuckers' , there were these two other soldiers near the town and the Revolters shot at them too." Attention went to Craig and Daithi. "And then there was this big gun fight when four more soldiers joined them and there were grenades and everything. I thought for sure at one point one of the soldiers got killed by one of the blasts." The attention was back on Evan who took a sip from his warm drink, keeping his eyes down on the campfire. "After that, a group of the Revolters had left and another group had stayed, planning on attacking these guys. I'm gonna guess it didn't work? I went with the ones that left." He looked around the group who shrugged. "Anyways, we ended up at this river and I just lost it. I was out of my mind with just anger and grief because I thought that my friends were dead and I thought for sure that it was the end and they were gonna kill me. And then there you were. Evan here comes flying out of nowhere and I couldn't believe it." Jonathan smiled. "I thought he wasn't real at first."

"You sound like you're in love with him." Daithi laughed. The others smiled and laughed as Jonathan kicked snow at him.

"Shut the fuck up!" Jonathan laughed.

As the night went on, they told their own war stories and Brock and Jonathan would tell stories about Evan who would stutter and stumble his way through telling his own stories. Though the more he talked, Evan's stutter seemed to go away and he was able to say more words without having to stop.

"A-And I had gotten m-my acceptance letter for the university I was going to go to and I-I rememeber-"

"Being a little crybaby bitch about it?" Tyler laughed, cutting Evan off.

"S-Shut up!" Evan yelled, punching Tyler. He laughed, pulling Evan off the firewood he had been sitting on to fight. The two punched each other while the others laughed. Tyler grabbed onto Evan's coat and dragged him to the snow.

"They've been doing this since I met up with them. Don't worry about it Jonathan they aren't gonna hurt each other." Brock laughed when he saw his worried look as he watched the taller soldier throw the shorter Peacekeeper to the snow, the other boys laughing and encouraging them to fight.

When the sky started to get brighter as night turned into morning, they kicked snow over their fire to put it out and climbed into their tent, climbing into their sleeping bags and huddled close to each other. They fell asleep with smiles on their faces, the fear of the unknown because of their lost map forgotten. None of them had felt as safe and happy as they did now since the war started.

Jonathan was one of the first wake up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he crawled out of the tent. He had slept beside Evan, woken up by him as soft morning light had come through the dark green fabric of the tent. Evan had had a nightmare, his hands shaking as he stared at them as if there was something on them. Jonathan comforted him, hugging him and told him he should try to sleep again. He needed his rest. Evan had listened, laying back down and pulled his blanket close. Now, Brian sat by the newly built fire, warming his hands as he waited for a pot of snow to melt to water then boil. Snow fell gently, a layer of snowflakes covering the tent.

"Morning." Jonathan said with a yawn, sitting down beside him.

"Sleep well?" Brian asked. Jonathan nodded, not mentioning Evan's nightmare. They were quiet for a little bit, still tired and yawning occasionally. Movement behind him caught Jonathan's eye, turning to see Tyler crawl out of the tent wrapped in a blanket. He yawned as he sat down beside Jonathan, holding his frozen water bottle towards the water in an attempt to melt the ice inside.

"Where are we going today? Do we even know which way is north?" Tyler asked Brian, taking the cap off his bottle. He frowned when he saw the chunk of ice inside, setting it down near the fire.

"I'm not even sure where the coast is from here." Brian sighed. "How am I supposed to figure out which way is north without a compass?"

"Why are you worried about going north?" Jonathan asked glancing between the two of them.

"Lui had heard about this supply train that derailed up north. Ever since he died it's been our goal to get there. We'd have a really good chance of surviving this thing if we got there first." Tyler said, noticing the wide eyed look on Jonathan's face. "What's up with you?"

"I know where that train is."


	12. Chapter 12

Red smoke swirled in the wind around Evan, the flare held tight in his hand as he walked. A storm had come in when they packed up their tents and now it was almost impossible to see far in front of them in the thick falling snow.

Each of them held a flare in order to be able to see each other through the snow, red and blue smoke drifting through the trees. Evan could see Jonathan and Tyler up ahead, red flares held tight in their hands. A little farther up, Brian was joking around with Marcel, jumping and spinning around as his red flare smoked. The others were closer to Evan with blue flares.

Evan hurried to catch up with Jonathan and Tyler, red and blue smoke sparking around him. He caught up to them, coming to a stop beside Tyler.

"S-So d-do y-you really know w-where w-we're going?" Evan asked, slightly out of breath.

"Yeah. I heard the guys I was with talking about it. The Revolters? Anyways, they've been looking for the train too. They said that if we go in this direction we'll get near the peak of this mountain and there is a spot where if you stop and look down at the valley, you can see the train." Jonathan explained.

"Sounds legit." Tyler laughed, playfully shoving Jonathan ahead. "We could find anything with those directions." Tyler snapped. "What do you wanna find, Owl boy? Good directions? We could find them at that spot where if we stop and look down at the valley-"

"Okay okay! I get it! It's better than nothing though. You lost your map didn't you?" Jonathan taunted. Tyler shoved Jonathan again, dropping his red flare dropping to the snow. The smoke seemed to spill along the snow as if it were blood. Jonathan held his blue flare tightly, staying ahead of Tyler so he couldn't push him again.

"We all have a part in forgetting the map it wasn't just me." Tyler snapped, picking up the red flare.

"I can hear you guys yelling from all the way back there." Brock spat as he ran up to them, his red flare smoke swirling around him.

"Good. Then they can hear how stupid Jonathan's directions are too." Tyler growled. Evan had been listening though he stayed quiet, smiling a little as they argued with each other. It seemed so silly and so out of place with what they were faced with.

"I think they were pretty good considering." Brock smiled, knowing it would upset Tyler.

"They are not! Evan agrees with me! Right?" Tyler asked, turning to Evan who shrugged. Tyler groaned, stomping ahead of the group. "When we all freeze to death then you'll understand! We'll be walking around the woods forever at this rate! You just wanna stumble on it by chance? By luck? In case you haven't fucking noticed, luck isn't gonna help anybody!"

"W-We b-been l-lucky s-so f-far." Evan shot back, wishing he wasn't stuttering as he tried to argue him.

"We've been lucky?" Tyler snapped, spinning around to look at him. "You wanna say that to Lui? We've been lucky?" Tyler repeated, his tone no longer joking.

"Y-Yes! W-We've m-made i-it t-this f-far! W-We're l-lucky." Evan cried as Tyler stopped in front of him.

"Brock remind your buddy here that it's still the end of the world or at least the end of what we know." Tyler snapped.

"It's still the end of the world, Evan." Brock sighed, not wanting to be a part of it.

"And tell him that luck doesn't mean shit anymore! This isn't a video game you can lose and try again at! It doesn't have anything to do with luck!" Tyler yelled. Brian, Craig, Marcel and Daithi had caught up to them by now, blue smoke coming from their flares and swirled through the woods. Brian's red flare was dying out, only sparking and mixed with the blue smoke that create a purple haze. A cold wind bit at their cheeks over their scarves and sent chills through them.

"Y-You think I don't fucking know that?" Evan yelled, shoving Tyler back. "I-I s-seen my friends die! I-I a-am lucky b-because I am still h-here and a-all I got is a s-stutter! N-Not a b-bullet in my back!" Tyler opened his mouth to yell a threat at Evan but was stopped by Brian.

"Back off, Tyler! You too, Vanoss!" Brian yelled, pushing them away from each other. "Stop getting mad at everyone! It's not our fault that all of this has happened! Don't blame us for trying to hold onto hope! It's keeping us alive!" The forest descended into a heavy silence, red and blue smoke floating around them.

"L-Lets keep walking. This isn't a good place to stop." Craig said quietly, walking past Evan and Tyler who still glared at each other. Evan's hands were curled into fists, ready to throw a punch.

"Guys come on." Brock said quietly, pulling Evan away from Tyler who had started to smile.

"I haven't heard you yell like that before, Owl Boy." Tyler laughed, following behind Brock and Evan. Jonathan glanced between him and Evan who laughed, a soft wheezing sound as he looked back at Tyler. "Thought for sure you were gonna hit me."

"I-I t-thought so too." Evan smiled.

The snow started to lighten up as the day went on and they put out their flares now that they were able to see each other. With the storm lighting up, the weight of their fears and worries, guilt and regret did too.

They packed snow into balls in their hands and threw them at each other, shivering as the cold snow fell down their necks and their laughs echoed through the woods. When Craig got hit with a snowball, he had laughed and tried to tackle Tyler who had thrown it only to be tossed down to the snow as if he weighed nothing. Evan had tied a blanket around his neck, holding the ends out as he ran through the snow, Jonathan and Brock following along. Evan flapped his arms as if the blanket was his wings but this time he didn't want them to take him away from this frozen world. He wanted to stay, safe with his friends and a strong hope that they were going to make it.

"Hey guys! Look!" Daithi called out, standing near the edge of a cliff that overlooked the valley. "Jonathan was right! Come here!" They ran over to him, looking through the trees below them. Their eyes landed on train cars laying on their sides or leaned up against trees. Running through the trees was the track, some of the train cars still on it.

"There's our train, boys!" Marcel laughed, pulling Brian into a hug. They all cheered and laughed. Tyler aimed his gun to the sky and shot off a few rounds letting out a victorious yell. They had made it.

"Well now that we know where it is, why don't don't we take a break so in case there is someone already there, we aren't gonna be tired if we gotta fight." Brian smiled, pulling out his water bottle as he sat down. Some of them kept looking at the train, eager to get to it but the others that were tired sat down by Brian, thankful to be off their feet.

"Aw come on! We can rest when we get to the train!" Jonathan insisted. "We shouldn't stop. Not yet."

"The train is going anywhere. What are you worried about?" Tyler asked, sitting on his pack. Brock sighed, throwing his pack down to sit on it. "Besides...you probably just wanna get there so you say that you told me and that your shitty directions." Tyler leaned over, kicking Jonathan's feet out from under him. He fell to the snow beside Craig and Evan, kicking up snow onto them. "Take a fucking seat, Delirious." Tyler laughed and the others laughed.

"When we get to that train, I'm gonna have the best damn sleep of my life." Brian said after a few moments of silence. "No one's gonna be able to wake me up!" Brian laughed. They smiled, glancing at the train cars in the valley. Some were buried in snow, others bent and broken from the impact of the crash. The snow around them was untouched as if no one had ever been there before.

"W-We s-should p-paint L-Lui's n-name on it. T-That's h-his train. W-We w-would be h-here if it w-wasn't f-for him." Evan said quietly.

"Hell we'd probably dead too." Marcel smiled. "To Lui!" He said, holding up his water bottle to toast to him.

"To Lui." They said before taking a drink from their partially frozen water. They leaned back, looking up at the falling snow and grey sky or to the valley and the train. They were all excited, the promise of survival within their reach now. It was only a matter of time now.

"It's so weird, you know. I mean just a few years ago, I was sitting at home playing end of the world war video games. I was just a kid. We were all just kids. We played soldiers. Now here we are. We're not kids anymore." Brock said quietly, looking down at his bottle. "We know we can't start over but I'd give anything to be able to."

Craig's eyes scanned over the valley, movement in an open space between the trees below catching his attention. Moving through the trees, a large group of Revolters advanced towards the train, guns in their hands and at the ready.

"Guys!" Craig yelled, hitting Evan who sat beside him to catch his attention. "Down there!" They scrambled to their feet, looking down at the valley.

"Mother fuckers…" Tyler snarled as he raised his gun, taking aim through the scope and shot one of the Revolters which sent the others into a panic. "Grab your packs! Move! Move! Move!" Tyler yelled. They threw their bottles back into their packs and picked up their guns, sprinting back down the hill they had climbed and moved towards the valley. A few shots fired through the trees at them as they moved. They were badly aimed, hitting the trees and snow around them.

Marcel could see the train through the trees now, taking cover behind a tree as bullets shot at him. Behind him, the others had spread out, taking cover behind trees and shot back at Revolters. Marcel stepped out of cover to shoot, the shells from the bullets flying off the gun with force as he shot. Brian was the closest to him, a few feet away. Checking his gun, Marcel saw that he was getting low on bullets, having to duck behind the tree again.

"Brian! I'm almost out!" Marcel yelled. Brain glanced in the direction of the Revolters before stepping out of cover and ran towards Marcel who also stepped out to cover Brian, shooting back.

"Marcel! I got yo-" One of the shells from Marcel's gun had flown off and with a burst of blood, struck Brian's right eye and lodged into his skull. Brian staggered back, his right eye a dark red hole, his left eye wide open with shock. He fell limp to the snow, blood oozing down the side of his face. Marcel couldn't move, frozen in shock as he stared down at his friend's body. Shots fired at him, forcing him to finally move and take cover behind the tree.

"Brian…" Marcel stared with wide hands shook as he dropped to his knees when the shooting paused. The hit had killed him instantly as if he had been shot in the head. "No...No. No! Fuck! No!" Marcel cried. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"

"Come on! Come on, Marcel! We're still in this!" Craig was suddenly there, pulling Marcel to his feet. Marcel struggled, pushing him away.

"No! We can't leave him! We can't leave him!" Marcel screamed, tears flowing down his face.

"We'll come back for him! Come on! We can't give up now!" Craig yelled, managing to get him away from Brian's body, running to where Brock and Evan were covering behind trees.

"M-Move up! Move up!" Evan yelled when they got to them, running towards the train. They took cover behind trees, getting closer to the train. "W-Where's Brian?" Evan cried, seeing Tyler, Daithi and Jonathan near the tracks. He looked back at Craig to see him shake his head and the tears on Marcel's face. "Oh god…" Evan leaned his head against the tree he was hiding behind. "Fuck." He hit the tree, looking back where they had come from as if he expected to see Brian. Bullets flew over theirs heads as they managed to move forward, shooting back at the Revolters. Brock and Evan hid behind a large piece of metal sticking out of the snow, bullets sparking off it and ricocheting to the snow.

"Evan…" Brock cried, holding onto his gun tightly. "I'm scared. I'm so scared."

"I-I'm s-scared t-too." Evan said quietly, leaning his back against the metal.

"Hey...You remember that time when we were playing that war game and...And all this crazy stuff was happening and you just started screaming and shooting. It was the funniest thing. You weren't even hitting anything." Brock laughed, tears in his eyes. Evan smiled, nodding as tears welled in his eyes at the happy memory.

"Move up! We're almost there!" They heard Tyler yell over the gunfire.

"Make sure you have good aim this time, Ev." Brock smiled at Evan as he ducked out of cover and started running. The next gunshot was loud, catching them all off guard. Evan got to his feet in time to see Brock stagger backwards. His gun dropped from his hands which he slowly raised to the wound on his chest, blood soaking his jacket. The golden owl patch glimmered in the soft light as he started to fall, eye rolling back into his head.

"No!" Evan screamed, running to Brock, catching him as he fell to the snow. Evan laid him down, pressing his hands over the wound. "B-Brock! I-It's okay! I-It's okay! Y-You're alright! Y-You can make it!" Evan cried, staring down at him as tears fell down his cold cheeks. Brock struggled to say something, looking up at Evan with pained eyes. He held onto Evan's hand tightly, the other over the bloody wound on his chest. "J-just...J-just think of s-someplace w-warm. C-Close y-you're eyes and t-think of some p-place that's better than t-this...and it's w-warm and y-you're h-happy." Evan's voice broke, holding onto Brock's hand tightly as it started to go limp. "Y-You're a-alright...Y-You're a-alright." Evan leaned his head against Brock's chest, sobs shaking his shoulders. He held onto his hand tightly as if it could bring Brock back. The sound of gunshots brought him back to reality, forced himself to let go of Brock's hand and get back behind cover as bullets shot at them through the trees. Craig and Marcel had caught up with Tyler, Daithi and Jonathan up ahead, glancing back to see Evan catch up to them, blood on his uniform.

"Are you hit?" Jonathan cried as Evan reached him.

"N-No." Evan shook his head, fighting back another sob.

"Is Brock…" Daithi trailed off, already knowing the answer to his question.

"We can't stop! We're so close!" Craig cried, pointing at the nearest train car. Yet as close as they seemed, there were still too many Revolters. The shooting had stopped though the tension was thick and they knew it wasn't over yet. "We might have lost Brian and Brock but we're still here and we gotta keep going!"

"The kid is right." Tyler sighed. "We can't stop. Not yet." He looked over the top of the rock they were hiding behind, seeing more movement near the train cars. "All we gotta do is get to one of the cars. We can defend it. Those fuckers aren't gonna want us around and if we get to a train car, they are gonna come running and we just have to shoot them down."

"That's the easy part." Marcel said quietly, closing his eyes.

"The hard part is getting it to it. If we all run out we're gonna get picked off till we're all dead." Jonathan held onto his gun tightly, prepared to get up and run if he had to.

"I wanna surrender. Can we still do that?" Daithi said from where he sat on the snow, leaned against the rock.

"Y-You c-can't...T-They'll j-just k-kill y-you." Evan stuttered, wiping the tears that blurred his vision away. He leaned his head against Tyler's shoulder, closing his eyes tightly as he stared back at the woods where they had come from. Out there, laying in the snow was Brian and Brock. They had been so close to what they had fought for. It wasn't fair. It had seemed as if everything had worked for them until now, their luck running out. Maybe Tyler was right. "M-Maybe w-we w-weren't s-supposed to last." Evan whispered, looking up at the snow that fell gently around them.

"No. We are supposed to." Tyler said, looking down at him. He looked back up over the rock, a bullet flying past his head. Tyler ducked in time, falling back down beside Evan. "Someone's gotta run out there. Distract them while the others run to the train."

"That someone isn't gonna come out of this alive...are they?" Jonathan whispered, looking down at the snow. Tyler nodded slowly. He couldn't let them run out there. They had come to far and fought too hard to let it end like that. He had only wanted to find Evan and Jonathan, only wanted to survive as long as he could. He knew now that he hadn't broken his knew what he had to do now and he accepted it.

"I'll do it. It's your only shot. You gotta run to that train. Promise me that you'll get to the train." Tyler said sadly. Evan shook his head, holding onto Tyler's arm tightly.

"N-No! Please. D-Don't do this." Evan cried. Tyler smiled.

"With that stutter I can never tell if you are telling the truth or not." Tyler laughed though it sounded like a sob.

"I-I t-thought I-I m-made it clear t-that I don't like i-it when y-you say that." Evan smiled though he continued to cry. Tyler gave him a hug, quietly apologising.

"You get to that train, okay? It's alright, Owl boy. It's alright." Tyler smiled. "On my signal, you guys run as fast as you can to that train. Don't look back. Understand?" They all nodded. Tyler smiled sadly, holding onto his gun tightly as he got to his feet, taking cover behind a tree. He could see the Revolters getting closer to them, taking aim in their direction. "Come on in." Tyler snarled under his breathe, his finger over the trigger. "Come on in, mother fuckers." He waited till they got closer before running out of cover. "Now! Now! Now!" He yelled, opening fire on the Revolters. Evan and the others got to their feet, running towards the train. Evan turned his head, looking back over his shoulder as the Revolters opened fire on Tyler. He was still standing as he was shot repeatedly, blood spraying onto the snow. Evan started to run back towards Tyler only to be grabbed by Daithi who tried to drag him towards the train car. Evan screamed and struggled against Daithi, his eyes on Tyler as he fell to the snow. His pilot jacket had gone completely red on the front, blood pooling around him on the snow.

Daithi was forced to pull the shorter Peacekeeper off his feet as he flailed and struggled to get away from him to get to Tyler. Daithi swung Evan around so he could no longer see Tyler, pushing him towards the train car. Daithi ran ahead, pulling himself into the train car as Jonathan reached for Evan's hand.

"Evan! Come on!" Jonathan yelled, extending his hand towards him as Evan started running again, not looking back at Tyler. He reached the train car, his gloved hand curling around the cold metal to pull himself up.

A sudden gunshot rang through the cold air, a sharp pain knocking the air out of Evan. Jonathan's eyes went wide, reaching for Evan's other hand that dropped his gun to the snow when the pain shot through him. The others fired at the Revolters though they could not stop the second shot that crackled through the air and another sharp pain shot through Evan. He felt his hand start to slip from the cold metal of the train, his other hand reaching around to the two wounds on his back. His hand came away soaked in blood. It dripped through his fingers to the white snow and soaked his gloves. His hands started to shake as he started at the blood, knowing that this time he wasn't dreaming. "Evan!" He could faintly hear Jonathan scream his name as the metal slipped from his hand as his legs gave out from him under him and he started to fall. "Evan!" He hit the snow, his bloodied hands resting on the blinding white snow. The world blurred, the flash of guns and the faint yells having no effect on him. He stared up at the dark sky, the snow falling gently around him. 'Think of somewhere warm.' He closed his eyes, thinking about home and warm summer days spent floating down the river on tubes, laughter and smiles, sunlight flickering through the trees. "Evan!"

The snow fell softly, the cold wind sending shivers through Jonathan. He stood on top of the train car, the smell of smoke and burning bodies hanging heavy in the air. The dark smoke drifted up through the trees to the sky as it got brighter after a hell of a night that he had thought never end.

He could not forget the sight of seeing Evan fall to the snow and not getting back up again. He had closed his eyes as if falling into a deep and long awaited sleep and would not wake up no matter how loud Jonathan yelled or shook his shoulder. So Jonathan had grabbed his gun and fired at the Revolters, the boys shooting till they ran out of bullets. The last Revolter had ran at them, only to scream in agony as Jonathan's knife swung through the air and slit a narrow line through his throat.

With the threat gone, the adrenaline had worn off and they found themselves collapsing, to the snow or to the train floor. As much they wanted to lay down and never get up, they could not leave the bodies, could not leave their friends on the cold snow where they lay so they burned them.

Now, looking up at the morning sky, flare gun held tight in his hand, Jonathan wiped the tears away. Slowly, he raised the flare gun, firing the red flare into the sky. It exploded into red smoke and sparks that arced and started to fall slowly back down the ground. As he shot another flare into the sky, the three owl patches newly sown to his jacket, watched with their big yellow eyes.

They had thought that all the good was gone when the bombs dropped, yet under the despair, pain and blood was hope. A bright hope that maybe one day, the sun would shine again.


End file.
